Line 26: “O Madre Maria”- “O Mother Mary,” or Virgin Mary in Spanish.
Line 27: “One ship…returning”- The Pinta lost a rudder and had to return early in the journey. Read more
Line 28: “thy mantle’s ageless blue”- The Virgin Mary wears a blue mantle traditionally. Also, could be referring to the blue ocean or sky. Read more
Courtesy of Paul von Deschwanden Moroder
Line 29: “casque”- historical a helmet (OED).
Line 30: “scudding”- (scud): move fast in a straight line because or as if driven by the wind (OED).
Line 36: “Moor”-Historically, Spain was constantly at war with the Moors of Africa (OED).
Line 36: “scimitar”- a short sword with a curved blade that broadens toward the pint (OED).
Courtesy of Pearson Scott Foresman
Line 38: “surfeitings”- (surfeit): an excessive amount of something (OED).
Line 42: “accrete”- grow by accumulation or coalescence (OED).
Line 43: “rondure”- sphere (OED).
Line 45: “Doge’s”- The chief magistrate of Venice or Genoa (OED).
Line 46: “delirium”- an actually disturbed stated of mind characterized by restlessness, illusions and incoherence (OED).
Line 46: “O Fernando”- Catholic monarch of Spain at the time of Columbus’ departure. Also the monarch when Spain captured back Granada, the last of the Moorish stronghold in Spain. Read more.
Ferdinand II of Aragon
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- Line 48: “Thy Virgin’s”- “Christian Church. An unmarried or chaste maiden or woman, distinguished for piety or steadfastness in religion, and regarded as having a special place among the members of the Christian church on account of these merits” (OED).
- Line 52: “jellied weeds”- “Kanten is a popular gelatin ingredient used in sweet Asian desserts. Kanten is a gelatin derived from refined seaweed. When freeze-dried seaweed was boiled down and cooled, a jelly-like substance was revealed (www.pennherb.com).
- Line 53: “Saltes Bar”- “Saltes. An island formed by two arms of the river Odiel, in front of the village of Huelva [where Christopher Columbus wrote about traveling to. ‘and at noon on the 15th he crossed the bar of Saltes and anchored in the deeper channel by the town of Palos'” (Thatcher, John Boyd. Christopher Columbus:his life, his work, his remains. Volume I. The Knickerbocker Press, New York and London. 1903. Print.).
- Line 54: “Palos”- A town near the “Bar of saltes” where Columbus wrote about traveling to. “Columbus sailed from Palos on Friday, August 3, 1492; discovered land in the New World on Friday” (Thatcher, John Boyd. Christopher Columbus:his life, his work, his remains. Volume I. The Knickerbocker Press, New York and London. 1903. Print.)
- Line 55: “Angelus”- “A devotional exercise commemorating the mystery of the Incarnation, consisting of versicles and responses… three times repeated, said by Roman Catholics, at morning, noon, and sunset, at the sound of a bell rung for that purpose” (OED).
- Line 55: “cordage tree”- “ [Cordage is the] Cords or ropes collectively or in the mass, esp. the ropes in the rigging of a ship” (OED).
A photograph of cordage on a ship. Courtesy of Shutterstock Images.