Columbus

Quiz: "Columbus" by James Russell Lowell

1. Recall – Form & Speaker: What type of poem is "Columbus," and who is the speaker? What is he doing at the moment the poem begins?

1. Recall – Key Symbol: What celestial objects serve as Columbus's closest companions during the voyage, and what specific name does Lowell give to the guiding star among them?

1. Recall – Key Image: What does Columbus use a sculptor working with a block of marble to represent? What does a flawed or misshapen statue symbolize in this context?

1. Recall – Mythological Allusion: Which mythological figure does Columbus compare himself to in order to explain how his grand vision has lifted — and isolated — him from ordinary life? Briefly describe the myth he draws on.

1. Comprehension – Columbus's Relationship with the Old World: How does Columbus characterize European society? What specific moral failing does he accuse its powerful figures of, and which biblical figure does he invoke to make that accusation?

1. Comprehension – The Talisman / Foundling's Token: What does the image of a cheap charm hung around a foundling's neck represent in the poem, and why does Columbus value it despite its apparent worthlessness to others?

1. Comprehension – Origins of the Obsession: According to the poem's analysis, what childhood experiences and literary/cultural sources first awakened Columbus's westward longing? Name at least two specific influences mentioned in the analysis.

1. Analysis – Isolation: Lowell argues that Columbus is lonelier than a desert hermit or a pillar-saint like Simeon Stylites. What makes the visionary's isolation more extreme than the hermit's physical solitude, and how does the ocean setting reinforce this idea?

1. Analysis – Faith vs. Free Will: How does the poem treat Columbus's decision to sail west — does Lowell present it as a free choice? Use the analysis of the "hand emerging from the darkness" passage to support your answer.

1. Analysis – Closing Symbol: The poem ends with an image of dawn figured as the young swimmer Leander rising from the sea. What does this image symbolize about the New World Columbus is about to reach, and how does it shift the poem's emotional tone from the desperation of the prayer that precedes it?

Answer Key

1. "Columbus" is a dramatic monologue. The speaker is Christopher Columbus himself, aboard his ship on the open ocean, on the eve of his historic voyage westward.

1. The stars and constellations are his companions. The North Star is specifically called his "God-fed Pharos" — a divine lighthouse guiding him across the sea.

1. The block of marble represents life itself as raw material for greatness. A misshapen statue symbolizes the wasted or stunted potential that results from the crowded, competitive conditions of the Old World, where people carve their lives poorly.

1. Columbus compares himself to Ganymede, the beautiful youth carried up to Olympus by Jupiter's eagle. The myth illustrates how his visionary purpose has elevated him far above ordinary existence — an ascent that cannot be reversed.

1. Columbus portrays European society as morally corrupt. He accuses its powerful men of publicly honoring God while privately worshipping gold. He invokes Judas to suggest that this hypocrisy amounts to a betrayal of genuine spiritual values.

1. The talisman represents Columbus's lifelong hope for the voyage — an inner conviction that others dismiss as worthless. He values it because, like a token left by an unseen mother, it carries a deep personal warmth and sense of destined purpose that transcends its outward appearance.

1. The analysis cites the whispering pine forests of the Apennines heard in childhood, the poetry of Dante (specifically the figure of Ulysses pressing westward), and the legend of Atlantis as sources that fed Columbus's obsession with the western sea.

1. The hermit at least chooses solitude among people who understand the concept of spiritual withdrawal. Columbus is surrounded by doubters who cannot even comprehend his vision, making his isolation existential rather than merely physical. The trackless ocean — with no landmarks and no community — makes this inner disconnection total.

1. Lowell does not present the voyage as a free choice. Columbus suggests that a man chosen by God simply accepts the "hand emerging from the darkness" — divine purpose overrides personal will. The hardships he faces (envy, scorn, disappointment) are reframed as confirmations of his calling rather than reasons to turn back.

1. Leander rising rosy and glowing from the sea transforms the literal sunrise into a symbol of the New World: young, beautiful, full of promise, and brimming with new life. It lifts the poem's tone from desperate, pleading prayer to radiant anticipation, suggesting that Columbus's faith is about to be vindicated.