The Conquerors
The Conquerors
Original Text
Sonnets of José-Maria de Heredia, trans. Edward Robeson Taylor (San Francisco: W. Doxey, 1897): 113. Internet Archive
1As falcons from their native eyry soar,
2So, tired with weight of their disdainful woes,
3Rovers and captains out of Palos rose,
4To daring, brutish dreams mad to the core.
5They longed to seize the fabled metal ore
6Which in Cipango's mines to ripeness grows,
7And trade-winds willingly inclined their prows
8Toward the mysterious occidental shore.
9Each eve, athirst for morrow's epic scene,
10The tropic sea with phosphorescent sheen
11Bound all their visions in mirage of gold;
12Or from the fore-deck of then-white carvels,
13They watched amazed on alien skies enscrolled
14Strange stars new risen from ocean's glowing wells.
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
Data entry: Sharine Leung
RPO Edition
2012
Rhyme
Form