Cargoes Trivia Quiz

Answer:

John Edward Masefield 1878-1967 was a poet, novelist, dramatist and journalist. He was the British Poet Laureate from 1930 until he died in 1967. Many of his shorter poems were set to music by different people. During the first World War he worked in a hospital caring for French soldiers.

Ophir is mentioned in the book of Genesis in the Bible. Its whereabouts in unknown but ancient texts refer to 'gold of Ophir' and Ophir was supposed to be fabulously wealthy. A pottery shard referring to Ophir was found in Tel Aviv in 1946.

Ninevah refers to an ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia located in what is now Mosul in Iran.

A quinquireme is an ancient Carthaginian or Greek galley rowed by 5 banks of oars, 2 rowers on the first two decks and a single oarsman on the third deck.

The poem highlights the diversity of shipping through the ages. The last two verses speak of the grandeur of the Spanish Empire and the rise of industrialisation and the contribution each era made to the development of society.