Analysis of The Arctic Voyager
Henry Timrod 1828 (Charleston) – 1867 (Columbia)
Shall I desist, twice baffled? Once by land,
And once by sea, I fought and strove with storms,
All shades of danger, tides, and weary calms;
Head-currents, cold and famine, savage beasts,
And men more savage; all the while my face
Looked northward toward the pole; if mortal strength
Could have sustained me, I had never turned
Till I had seen the star which never sets
Freeze in the Arctic zenith. That I failed
To solve the mysteries of the ice-bound world,
Was not because I faltered in the quest.
Witness those pathless forests which conceal
The bones of perished comrades, that long march,
Blood-tracked o'er flint and snow, and one dread night
By Athabasca, when a cherished life
Flowed to give life to others. This, and worse,
I suffered -- let it pass -- it has not tamed
My spirit nor the faith which was my strength.
Despite of waning years, despite the world
Which doubts, the few who dare, I purpose now --
A purpose long and thoughtfully resolved,
Through all its grounds of reasonable hope --
To seek beyond the ice which guards the Pole,
A sea of open water; for I hold,
Not without proofs, that such a sea exists,
And may be reached, though since this earth was made
No keel hath ploughed it, and to mortal ear
No wind hath told its secrets. . . . With this tide
I sail; if all be well, this very moon
Shall see my ship beyond the southern cape
Of Greenland, and far up the bay through which,
With diamond spire and gorgeous pinnacle,
The fleets of winter pass to warmer seas.
Whether, my hardy shipmates! we shall reach
Our bourne, and come with tales of wonder back,
Or whether we shall lose the precious time,
Locked in thick ice, or whether some strange fate
Shall end us all, I know not; but I know
A lofty hope, if earnestly pursued,
Is its own crown, and never in this life
Is labor wholly fruitless. In this faith
I shall not count the chances -- sure that all
A prudent foresight asks we shall not want,
And all that bold and patient hearts can do
Ye will not leave undone. The rest is God's!
Scheme | Text too long |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101110111 0111110111 1111010101 1101010101 0111010111 11001011101 1101111101 1111011101 1001010111 11010010111 1101110001 101110101 011101111 11101010111 1110101 1111110101 1101111111 1101011111 0111010101 1101111101 0101010001 1111110001 1101011101 0111010111 1011110101 0111111111 1111101101 1111110111 1111111101 1111010101 1100110111 1101010100 0111011101 101101111 10101111101 1101110101 1011110111 1111111111 0101110001 1111010011 1101010011 1111010111 010111111 0111010111 1111010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,987 |
Words | 375 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 45 |
Lines Amount | 45 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,566 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 382 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 18, 2023
- 1:53 min read
- 68 Views
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"The Arctic Voyager" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18274/the-arctic-voyager>.
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