I note that today is the anniversary of the arrival, in 1513, of Vasco Núñez de Balboa at the shores of the Pacific after crossing the Isthmus of Panama, thereby becoming the first European to take a dekko at the Big Blue from its eastern side.
Whether Mr. Dennis Coot John Keats poetickally robbed Balboa of this distinction and gave it instead to stout Cortez with eagle eyes out of historickal ignorance or whether he did so just because it scans better than “stout Balboa”, I could not really say. However, although the substitution might be hard cheese on Balboa, his spirit can at least take consolation that he didn’t wind up in this cartoon, which I have had hung on my dorm/office wall for many, many years:
The Port Stands At Your Elbow 
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September 25, 2012 at 6:16 pm
mothe
If he knew it was on a peak in Darien, he probably knew it was Balboa, donchan think?
September 25, 2012 at 7:11 pm
Robbo
Oh, heck. You and I were both English majors so we both know exactly how sudden and deep those gaps in our knowledge can be. I’ve a vision of Mr. Coot sitting at his desk with his eyes squinched together and muttering, “‘Ere, who was that Conquistador fellah, the one in Darien? Pizarro….? De Soto….? Magellan….? Mrs. Lopsided…? Blimey, I dunno! Awright, we’ll goes wif Cortez and trust ta luck! Sounds nice anyways….”
September 25, 2012 at 8:44 pm
mothe
Well, now think about it. ‘stout Cortez”—–now that sounds, how shall one say? virile? adventurous? a born leader of men? yes?
But ‘bulky Balboa’? Not so good.
And he probably figured no one would know the difference anyway. Not too many did A levels in them days.