Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HUDSON'S VOYAGE, by ARTHUR GUITERMAN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HUDSON'S VOYAGE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Through the ice of nova zembla, through the fogs that held
Last Line: "so unmoor, and set the tiller for the sea-road to cathay!"
Subject(s): Hudson, Henry (1550-1611); New York City - Dutch Period


"THROUGH the ice of Nova Zembla, through the fogs that held us long,
We had sought the Northeast fairway till a headwind blowing strong
Bade us swing the kicking rudder; and we filled and bore away
Ever Westward for a passage to the portals of Cathay.

"And we sailed o'er seas uncharted, rolling black and green and blue,
Till we hailed the coastal ranges of the world they call the New!
And we saw a wooded headland rising boldly on our lee --
'Twas a goodly land to fall with and a pleasant land to see --
Where an ocean channel broadened to a hill-encompassed bay,
And I deemed it was the highroad to the treasures of Cathay.

"There we moored our vessel safely from the swirling autumn tides,
And the Red Men in their shallops came and stroked her salty sides;
As they marveled at her hugeness of our friendship they were fain,
And they brought us pipes of copper, mellow grapes, and yellow grain.
When I questioned them for tidings of our much-desired goal,
Though their savage tongue I knew not, yet they beckoned toward the Pole.
So we heaved the Half Moon's anchor and we got her under way,
And we shaped our voyage Northward for the harbors of Cathay.

"Fifty leagues we drew a furrow on that waterway unknown,
Past the bowered outer islands, under cliffs of living stone,
Skirting sunlit fields that billowed to the shores of inland seas,
Under shadowed rocky ranges with their crests of noble trees,
Till the channel shoaled and narrowed in a reach of highland plain,
And the brackish water sweetened -- and we knew our quest was vain.
'Twas the River of the Mountains, where the silver salmon play;
And o'er yet untraversed waters lies the passage to Cathay.

"So, aboard again, my trusties! for the spirit will not rest;
We must find the golden passage, be it East or be it West.
With a seaman's craft and courage, with a single heart and soul,
We shall search that ocean fairway from the Tropics to the Pole.

Yet, when softly lap the surges, in my cabin I may dream
Of the mighty mountain river, of that broadly rolling stream,
Where I heard the hum of nations in the whisper of the shrouds,
While, as breath of future cities, rose the white September clouds.
What is all the dazzling treasure that the jeweled East may give
To our new-discovered countries where the sons of men shall live!
But the offshore breezes freshen and the tide-rush will not stay;
So unmoor, and set the tiller for the sea-road to Cathay!"





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