The title says it all...
(Poem #238) Romance When I was but thirteen or so I went into a golden land, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi Took me by the hand. My father died, my brother too, They passed like fleeting dreams, I stood where Popocatapetl In the sunlight gleams. I dimly heard the master's voice And boys far-off at play, --- Chimborazo, Cotopaxi Had stolen me away. I walked in a great golden dream To and fro from school --- Shining Popocatapetl The dusty streets did rule. I walked home with a gold dark boy And never a word I'd say, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi Had taken my speech away. I gazed entranced upon his face Fairer than any flower --- O shining Popocatapetl It was thy magic hour: The houses, people, traffic seemed Thin fading dreams by day; Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, They had stolen my soul away! |
An unabashedly romantic poem (don't say you weren't warned!), and not a very good one - the imagery is uninspired, the prosody unremarkable, the theme ordinary. And yet... for some reason (no doubt measureless to man) it's one of those poems which stick in the memory. I remember reading it when I was very young; I rediscovered it last year, and the magic still remains. The key ingredient of the spell is, of course, the evocativeness [1] of the place names. The poem is carried by the effect of the simple yet beautiful refrain - 'Chimborazo, Cotopaxi'. (and the equally nice counterpoint 'Popocatapetl'). And indeed, place names in general do tend to conjure up wonderful images - think of Samarkand and Byzantium, Troy and Carthage, Timbuktu and Tokyo, the Khyber Pass and the Oregon Trail, the Silk Road and the Sahara... Turner was merely the first poet to make explicit use of this particular form of magic in such a direct fashion. thomas. [1] There it is, that word again. If I had a penny for every time I've used it on the Minstrels... [Links] A similar poem is Joyce Kilmer's 'Trees' - nothing remarkable, but it sticks in your mind. You can read it at poem #146
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43 comments: ( or Leave a comment )
I disagree. I think there is far more to this poem than exotic place names.
True, it is not the deeepest poem ever written but I think its power and
memorability is in its simplicity. It is warm and evocative and like the
volcanos mentioned posseses a deep, smoldering, hidden power. That is why it
sticks in the mind.
I feel the same way. It isn't the greatest poem on earth, but there is more to this than the mere repition of place names. A sense of wonder and otherworldliness and a childlike hypnotism associated with the references to family and to the volcanoes. I learned this poem as a small child and it has never left me, even though I remembered only whisps and fragmants. So much so that I call my new baby Chimborazo! and my older daughter has a Popercaterpetl and a my younger, a Cotapaxi among their menagerie of stuffed animals!
And old fella I know, who is just over 70 years old and not at all into the internet quoted a line from this poem. He had learnt it at school and wanted to find the poem.
(This is getting like the J. R. Hatley yellow pages ads..)
Thanks to your site I managed to track the poem down quite easily with a search on 'Chimborazo Cotopaxi' so many thanks!.
As to the poem itself, well it makes your arm hurt if you try and write it down quickly....
I have just found an old exercise book from my school days in 1970 with this much loved poem in it but unfortunately eaten by bugs and mice! I could JUST make out some of the lines and vaguely remembered a few but only had to type in "Cotopaxi poem" to find it again on your site-many thanks.I have always adored it and as others have said just adored the romantic place names and childish images of handsome boys!! I see you have many other poems on your page and will have a good look at the Tennyson ones in particular as he is an ancestor of mine-something like my great great Grandfather was his brother Frederick-always have to look at the family tree to get the number of greats right!Any other Tennysons out there?My mother was Phyllis Tennyson before she married.thank you for supplying such a great site.
I would like to add to our comments on the above E mail.For some reason my son's E mail address defaulted onto MY message;I would like to point out that I am female! Alison Coulter-no doubt the same will happen again!
When I was 18 I worked giving measles vaccinations in Guanujo, a tiny
village on the shoulder of Chimborazo. As I hiked the foothills each day
the verses of this poem resonated in my mind. My experience was that
Chimborazo, Cotopaxi had stolen me away. As a result of this experience I
have become an avid mountain climber and am planning to return to Ecuador
next year to summit both Mt Chimborazo and Mt. Cotopaxi. I believe the
magic and the unforgettable quality of this poem is a reflection of the
power and majesty of these peaks.
I've wandered in the shadow of all three of these volcanoes wishing I could
remember that poem ... Before Eastern Airlines failed, one of their flights
out of Lima flew took me over the craters of both Chimborazo and Cotapaxi,
clearing them by only 7000 feet--a stunning sight and the only decent thing
I can remember about this awful airline. My camera jammed-up wouldn't ya
know it?
A word of caution: most people pronounce the Mexican volcano as a string of
three, double syllables whereas it is really two words of three syallables.
The name translates from the Nahautl as Smoking Mountain "Popoca" [=smoking]
and "Tepetl" [=mountain] so it's
"Pop-oca-tep-etl" not, as most people say, "Popa-Cata-Petal". Consider the
Aztec deity Chimalpopoca [= Smoking Mirror] which is similarly pronounded
"Chimal - popoca"...
Finally, in my anthology the volcano is mispelled as Popocatapetl [i.e.,
with an "a" rather than an "e"] which makes me think that Turner also
incorrectly pronounced the name. No Mexican would ever say "Popa-Cata-Petal"
...
Andrew Forester
Hi there,
It is so amazing that I have a similar story to those who commented on
this poem. I did this in secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago, and
presently I'm in college in the US; I studied literature for both O's
and A levels, but I had read 'Romance' when I was about 12 and I only
remembered a few phrases.
Anyway, I resurrected it because for my college lit class, I need to
present a poem, and I passed over Elliot , Shakespeare and Hughes for
this one. What is the appeal? I believe it's the imagery, simple
phrasing and rhyme along with juxtaposing of these exotic mountains with
everyday life, with the mystiscm of them transcending the ordinary.
A poem doesn't have to be complex, and written in the 19th cen to be
good. When it appeals to our simple emotions, that's even better.
Thanks
Deaneille
I too remember this from school. A unforgettable resonation in my the mind. A beautiful mystic of far off places. But I wonder about its implied sexuality. There are the words that imply that the romance is not for the dusty streets, but for the gold dark boy. Substitute golden dark girl and you may appreciate my meaning. That said, and please don't confuse me with someone who is homophobic, it does not detract from the beauty of the poem
Roy Illing
W.J Turner, the poet, though born in Australia, was much better known later
on as a music critic in London and wrote a well-known essay on Mozart (His
opinions in this seem rather strange to me.) and two other books: one on
English music and the other on Hector Berlioz which is probably his best
work.
Ed
My former mother-in-law quoted this poem to me when I met my own "gold dark boy", my second husband, who is from Ecuador. We subsequently went to live there for ten years and I saw Chimborazo and Cotopaxi regularly, from trains, buses and planes.
Mysterious Chimborazo is often cloud covered and one counts oneself lucky when she reveals herself to you for a moment or two.
I wonder why Turner mixed in the image of Mexico's Popocatapetl? Maybe he just liked the sound of it.
I agree with those who say it is the imagery of these far away places and interesting names that seem to haunt the mind.
Glad I found the poem. Great site.
J
It is incredible, reading these comments, that so many have had the same experience as I. I could relate to almost all of them, except perhaps the comment by that kid named Neil Coward and his comment about the "old fella" who was over 70 and not into the Internet. That's really sad. I couldn't really relate to that. ;o) (I say this with a smile, as I know his perspective will change eventually.)
In 1943, when I was in third grade, the teacher would read poetry to us during our, so called, rest period. She read them with much expression and I enjoyed listening, but most were soon forgotten. All except for a phrase from one of the poems which got stuck in my brain. For years afterward, the whispered phrase "Chimborazo Cotopaxi" would pop out and start running around in my head. I didn't know the name of the poem, nor much else about it. I knew those were the names of two mountains in South America, but otherwise didn't give it much significance. After schooling was finished, I went to live and work in Africa for a number of years. But, then came the day, 37 years after those third grade rest periods, when I was on a plane arriving in Quito, Ecuador. Over the western ridge and heading up the valley toward the Quito airport and right off to the side, for the first time, I saw the Cotopaxi that might steal my heart away. For the next six years, Cotopaxi, with her "eyebrow", was an almost daily sight, except when veiled with clouds. Frequent trips south, over the paramo on a clear day, gave a majestic view of Chimborazo, with her three lomas glistening in the sun. Yes, you can leave them, but they never leave you. I now have the images to go with the phrase I heard so long ago and I am sure they will never go away.
Five years ago, I was again able to return to Ecuador for six months. This time to Pifo, on the eastern side of the valley. The window of the dining room framed a view of Cotopaxi. Almost every morning, I ate my breakfast as I watched the sun come over the eastern ridge and start illuminating her snowcap in an orange pink light, often against a deep blue sky. Cotopaxi changes from day to day and month to month. Sometimes she wears a bonnet of clouds, sometimes it's just a wreath or maybe a scarf of clouds trailing out in the wind. At one time, I had pictures of that scene posted on a website. It's gone now, but when I can get some time, I want to get another one set up. I would recommend to anyone that, if at all possible, they travel to see Chimborazo, Cotopaxi and all their many beautiful siblings. Ecuadorians are very gracious people and it is an experience that will stay with you for a lifetime.
Orbra Bliss
Thank you
Many thanks for helping me track down this poem.
Through the years I have been giving Wallace Stevens
credit for it in my mind. Clearly, it doesn't sound like
him, but that's the way it was embedded.
True, this poem is not profound - but to me it embodies
the particular detachment of a creative person who
contructs a world of his/her own. There is a self-isolating
and comforting beauty in such a world. Not too socially
praiseworthy perhaps, but very satisfying.
You have given me new destination. Ecuador it is.
Carolyn Bunch
Just two hours ago I returned from Mexico City from where I took a
taxi to Popocatapetl. The name had been with me since the early
1950's when I read Turner's poem though I did not recall the poet's
name. I checked the old-fashioned way in The Oxford Dictionary of
Quotations and found the first four lines only with no reference to
"El Popo" as it is called in Mexico.
The mountain is spectacular and is flanked by another volcano called
"Itzaccihuatl". I would not have made the two hour journey but for
the poem and I add my thanks to those previously registered.
Alastair.
I read this poem at grammar school in the 1930s and the imagery has stayed
with me. But as nobody explained it to us, for many years I took it literally,
and thought the orphaned boy really had been taken to these places. Nor were
we told where the volcanoes are and, as geography was not my strong point, I
had no idea they were in two separate countries.
Freda
True it is not the greatest poem ever written so why has it stuck in my mind
for nearly 30 yrs?I was taught this poem by a teacher who was also clearly
smitten with it.At six years old I didn't have the foggiest idea what she was
talking about but I still remember every line.Surely this in itself makes it
a great poem
During WWII, when "I was but thirteen or so" I was sent out of England where there food rationing, and went to Canada, "A golden land", where there was ice cream of every flavor imaginable. Years later I got to Australia, and found out Turner was Australian. Romance was my favorite until I read his The Hunter (Yucatan). Worth a search. APWB.
I've just read some of the other comments. As Longfellow said in his "The Day is Done" --- "Read from some humbler poet, whose songs gushed from his heart". He also said to read poetry out loud, --- "... lend to the rhyme of the poet the beauty of thy voice". I would say good advice for any poem that has lots of exotic names (eg. Ozymandias, Xanadu and Kubla Khan, to name a few that come immediately to mind). APWB
JUST SITTING I REMEMBERED DOING THIS POEM IN STANDARD 2 WHEN II WAS JUST 7 AND NOW AFTER 26 YEARS I STILL REMEMDER THOSE 2 WORDDS ,CHIMBORAZO COTOPAXI
There's a common thread in all these posts: the sense of wonder evoked by those three evocative names - and particularly the first two juxtaposed - which has lived in the minds of so many people who heard the poem as children decades ago. This in itself is a measure of the success of the poem. I too had a fractured memory of the poem and had to search for it and the name of the author last year, and it had inspired me travel abroad extensively. I spent several months in South America in the seventies and was entranced by the mountains, history and cultures of the Andes, but I have yet to see the three volcanoes.
Thank you.
Always loved this poem. I first heard it about 1956. I found it recited on YouTube by one who might be the author just a few minutes ago.
My sixth-grade teacher (1968) posessed a romantic attachment to all things South American. She instilled in me an unrepentant Wanderlust - not least through her recitation of this poem. Reading it now, for the first time, 43 years later, conjures that sixth-grade year with laser focus. I resolve to go to Quito to see those mountains for myself - and soon.
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Thanks for posting this poem. Always thought it was by John Masefield. Like everyone else who has written in I learned it 60 years ago or so with the same results.I loved reading all the comments. Many thanks
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I read this poem as a very young girl and it's never left me. I dont't really know why but when I go back to it again it still moves me - maybe taking me back to my youth - who knows??
It's pretty magical - and simple.
I have just returned from a visit to Ecuador purely occasioned from remembering this poem read as a child over 70 years ago. Delighted to report that Chimborazo and Cotopaxi fully justified the glorious images created by this romantic and unforgettable poem. Go!
Eileen R.
cool and great posting..I like it
I read this poem at school when I was about eleven...now almost eighty. The wonder, enchantment and mystery I felt then never left me but I could only remember the first few lines so thank you for posting the whole poem.
Thank you for posting this. My husband is from Cotopaxi province, and I am in the process of organising a trip to bring our three children to see the family next year. Having lived in Ambato when Tungurahua volcano started spewing fire and ash in 1999, I would caution against a fully romantic view of these gigantic beasts. They are beautiful though, and reading this poem brings me back to the first time I went to Ecuador in 1995, and my (now) husband and I used to visit the white washed towns and walk the cobbled streets. No wonder I fell head over heels in love.
I learned this poem when I was in the 4th grade
EQUIPMENT
by Edgar A. Guest
Figure it out for yourself, my lad,
You've all that the greatest of men have had,
Two arms, two hands, two legs, two eyes
And a brain to use if you would be wise.
With this equipment they all began,
So start for the top and say, "I can."
Look them over, the wise and great
They take their food from a common plate,
And similar knives and forks they use,
With similar laces they tie their shoes.
The world considers them brave and smart,
But you've all they had when they made their start.
You can triumph and come to skill,
You can be great if you only will.
You're well equipped for what fight you choose,
You have legs and arms and a brain to use,
And the man who has risen great deeds to do
Began his life with no more than you.
You are the handicap you must face,
You are the one who must choose your place,
You must say where you want to go,
How much you will study the truth to know.
God has equipped you for life, but He
Lets you decide what you want to be.
Courage must come from the soul within,
The man must furnish the will to win.
So figure it out for yourself, my lad.
You were born with all that the great have had,
With your equipment they all began,
Get hold of yourself and say: "I can."
wmknapp55@gmail.com
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nice to see your poem bro, keep posting, i'll always support you
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