Whilst two-pass reading Michael Drayton's "Ode. To the Virginian Voyage", there was a strikingly large amount of optimism in the folds of his poem. It is obvious as to why this is, the sailors and crewmen were about to embark on a voyage that was by far one of the most treacherous to date, not to mention costly and nerve-wracking. Positives brought the morale of the sailors up if it were to be read to them and would boost the spirits of those who believed in said sailors.
Going off of a fuller reading, Drayton also made a pretty steep gamble on publishing this work.
Based around just the positive aspects to negative, there are FAR more positives. Every negative point is countered by an overwhelming type of joy or rapture. Whether the words mentioned be "Brave, heroic, merry, securely, cheerfully, success, paradise, ambitious, luscious, delicious, happiest, frolic, heroes or industrious, there are even more lines which dispel disdain. Drayton mentions and insults other people and GODS , claiming that they dont have the power to touch or have any influence on the voyage.
With lines such as "Whilst loit'ring hinds / Lurk here at home with shame" (5,6), "Earth's only paradise" (24) and "When Aeolus scowls/You need not fear" (16) Drayton seems pretty confident that the crew was going to make it across the Atlantic.
Hell, imagine if they hadn't.
His entire life would probably be ruined, his career as a poet ruined, the general populace unable to believe in anything he says because of the tragedy that befell such an "invincible" crew. However, Jamestown was successful, and thus he most likely received quite the praise from everyone whom knew him personally. Quite the gamble in the 1600's.
Let us not forget about the time span in-between the voyage and any semblance off success that would be sent back to Britain. How would anyone have known if Jamestown were successful and not destroyed? Who would be the unlucky person who be sent back across the Atlantic to report? What if he died on the way back? The gambling increases dramatically with that much of an ambiguity to the transfer process. Anyone with power can cry wolf and wreck Michael.
Not to mention the prospect of Virginia itself. Not the land of paradise that anyone would have imagined, nor a land of such riches that gods could not handle it, it seems that as mentioned before, this is merely a morale-boosting piece. It works as it is, but if anyone were to have questioned Drayton on simple things like "how do you know what is in Virginia if you have never been there?" and "How do you know that the Atlantic is not extraordinarily dangerous?" Any of these things could have crushed any credibility for Drayton, yet as mentioned many times before it is a poem meant for morale, so one must suspend their disbelief.
