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A little before James Cook was dispatched to observe the transit of Venus, and while he was at it, see if he could find Australia. A pair of Englishmen sailed to Philadelphia to survey what was to be called the Mason-Dixon line...having no clue that their seminal work would effectively be used to divide the North and South during the American civil war.
Mark Knopfler wrote a song about Mason and Dixon's epic survey....and while not strictly poetry...the lyrics have a delightful Astronomical theme:
I am Jeremiah Dixon
I am a Geordie Boy
A glass of wine with you, sir
And the ladies I'll enjoy
All Durham and Northumberland
Is measured up by my own hand
It was my fate from birth
To make my mark upon the earth
He calls me Charlie Mason
A stargazer am I
It seems that I was born
To chart the evening sky
They'd cut me out for baking bread
But I had other dreams instead
This baker's boy from the west country
Would join the Royal Society
Now you're a good surveyor, Dixon
But I swear you'll make me mad
The West will kill us both
You gullible Geordie lad
You talk of liberty
How can America be free
A Geordie and a baker's boy
In the forest of the Iroquois
Now hold your head up, Mason
See America lies there
The morning tide has raised
The capes of Delaware
Come up and feel the sun
A new morning is begun
Another day will make it clear
Why your stars should guide us here....
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