Audiobook · read by volunteers
Columbus
Joaquin Miller (1837–1913)
Read by Andrea L, Ezwa, Jason Mayoff, Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023), Michael Sirois, Sean McKinley · 6 chapters · 14 min
About the book
Behind him lay the gray Azores, behind the Gates of Hercules, before him not the ghost of shores: so opens Joaquin Miller's Columbus, one of the most recited poems in American verse. The poem imagines the long voyage into the unknown, the mutinous crew, the fading hope and the calm insistence of the captain who will not turn back. Its refrain, sail on, has been heard in many a school hall. Six LibriVox volunteers read the poem in turn, recorded for Columbus Day in the autumn of 2006. Each version is brief, and together they last only about a dozen minutes. Hearing the poem in six voices lets you feel its drama build again and again, and makes a pleasant, thoughtful session for anyone interested in poetry, exploration or the way we tell the story of discovery.
Introduction
Joaquin Miller was the pen name of Cincinnatus Hiner Miller (1837-1913), an American poet who made a name for himself as the Poet of the Sierras. He had lived on the frontier and cultivated a colourful public image. The poem Columbus is probably his best-known work, and it was long a favourite for recitation in schools. The poem's chief device is repetition: the same order is given again and again as the mood of the crew darkens, and a listener can hear that structure very clearly.
The Gates of Hercules named in its opening line is an ancient name for the Strait of Gibraltar, once the edge of the known world for Mediterranean sailors, and the gray Azores are the Portuguese islands far out in the Atlantic. The poem imagines the voyage of Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic. The captain's men are frightened and ready to rebel, the sea is empty and the night is dark, but the steadfast voice of the commander answers every question with the same instruction: sail on. The poem is built on this refrain, and its power lies in the repeated and gradually intensifying encouragement. Today the figure of Columbus is viewed more critically than in Miller's time, and a modern listener will naturally hear the poem as a document of its era. It remains, however, a well-constructed piece of verse about courage and persistence in the face of doubt.
This recording is a multi-version collection. LibriVox volunteers recorded six readings of the poem to celebrate Columbus Day, as part of the weekly poetry project of 8 October 2006. There are six short chapters, each one a complete reading, totalling around twelve minutes.
It is a good example of how a single poem can change with the voice that carries it.
Public domain
Joaquin Miller died in 1913: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text