Michael Drayton, the poet who wrote ‘To the Virginian Voyage’ lived in the late sixteenth century – early seventeenth century, through most of the long, dominant reign of Queen Elizabeth I in England. This was a time of unprecedented travel and has become well known as the era of explorations and voyages. This phenomenon was due to many factors, like – better shipbuilding skills, detailed maps, the invention of compasses, religion – which was the supreme concern for everyone – especially after the Reformation (when protestants broke away from the Catholic church and set up their own church instead), many people were intent on spreading the religious faith. Thus they wanted to travel to new lands and educate the “savages”, which was how they perceived the people who lived there. Drayton puts across this want of adventure in encouraging people to emigrate to ‘Virginia’.
Structurally ‘For a Journey’ has three stanzas, the first two of these are of equal length (seven lines each), the third is a rhyming couplet which makes it memorable as the conclusion to the poem. There is scarcely any expected rhyme scheme throughout the poem; and the abundance of enjambment can be noted. The only end-stopped lines are the introductory and concluding lines to the first two stanzas, the very last line of the poem and line ten. Brownjohn is clever in his selection of when and where to use this device. In lines 2 and 3, the words run into the next line just like the verb ‘trekking’ suggests the names do.
‘the names trek on
unseen across ever country.’
Again, later in line 11, by not pausing after ‘for’, the poet builds more intense anticipation about what he will say next, this builds up momentum.
Michael Drayton’s poem ‘To the Virginian Voyage’ is quite structurally lengthy. It has twelve, six line stanzas. It is very long, in contrast to ‘For a Journey’. There is an expected rhyme throughout the poem but this can be especially noted after stanza four, when “Virginia” is mentioned outright. The expected rhyme scheme then becomes absolutely fixed which is suggestive of the sincerity of the positive claims being made about Virginia in the poem.
‘ And the fruitfullest soil
Without you toil
Three harvests more,’
This is completely different to ‘For a Journey’s general lack of an expected rhyme scheme which perhaps the use of a more unpredictable rhyme scheme is in keeping with its message. Drayton uses many poetic devices throughout his poem, beginning with the employment of the imperative in stanza one, line four: “Go and subdue!” shows a greater immediacy. Commas, colons, semi-colons, full stops and exclamation marks are used for effect. These break up the poem and so slow down or speed up the pace of reading. The indented lines give the poem a pattern, which, like its rhyme, does not change. There is effective syntax used in various lines, especially in stanza four line five, also with the one line, “VIRGINIA”, in capitals, highlighting the destination prominently. The reader’s attention is drawn solely onto this word.
The connotations of the two titles can be better appreciated after readings of the whole poems ‘For a Journey’ suggests a plea, request and a desire to go on a journey. It is implied that it holds a universal message about any journey. As you read the poem, you consider the idea what constitutes the basic, essential ingredients of any journey and these are elaborated on. Brownjohn argues that journeying is safer where there is human contact and strongly warns that
‘You can travel safer over land so named’.
The actual vocabulary used throughout the poem is simple. “Simplicity [meet] the need”, simple words are used to imitate farmer’s simple names of fields. The impact/effect of the language on the poet’s message gives us insight into the farmer’s simplicity. The particular choices of verbs, adjectives, adverbs and nouns help us to visualise personally what the poet is talking about, the pictures he is painting and they help to maintain a reflective tome throughout.
The connotations of the title of ‘To the Virginian Voyage’ introduce the idea of a salutation, a determined sense of enthusiasm about a trip to Virginia. The alliterative effect emphasises it and the repetition of the ‘v’ sounds pleasant to listen to. The title is appropriate, having read the rest of the poem, because its whole function it to persuade the reader to emigrate to Virginia. The poet uses to various choices of verbs “pursue”, nouns “Virginia”, adjectives “delicious” at different stages throughout the poem, which cumulatively build enthusiasm for his message. The poet even uses superlative terms such as, “the happiest men,”
Drayton mentions “Eolus” and “Apollo” in an effort to appeal to his educated listeners.
The poet does use archaic language, which is to be expected as was written before 1900, “kenning”. These words serve to remind us of the historical context in which the poem was written and its remoteness from that of us today. Drayton’s message was one strongly influenced by nationalism; Brownjohn’s is influenced by a strong sense of being true to one’s own individual history.
Each of these two poets has been influenced by the era in which he is living and what others around them have been doing. They respond to trends established by their peers. The quote,
“The death of fear is in doing what you fear to do,”
can be linked to journeying, in that you will never know what is out or there or overcome your anxiety bout it until you experience it for yourself. Yet, Brownjohn’s poem ‘For a Journey’, it would not appear to share this summation as tells to value what we know and appreciate and love the land we know and own. The poem seems to warn against the scenario, faraway fields are greener than those at home and warns against venturing into the unknown; while ‘To the Virginian Voyage’ encourages us to know and learn more. ‘For a Journey’ advocates valuing the life and land that is known. ‘To the Virginian Voyage’ by Michael Drayton advocates change and “soil” literally promises here that the grass is greener on the other side. The challenge raised in ‘For a Journey’ is to stay with what is known and make changes where one is, rather than go to another place and try to change others. In ‘For a Journey’, the fear to be overcome is the fear of change, when one is content with what is “known”. Both poems challenge their readers and both raise issues of confidence. I think Alan Brownjohn’s ‘For a Journey’ is best as it appeals to me more than ‘To the Virginian Voyage’, as I don’t like to go to foreign lands and journey too far from home.
