INSCRIBED ON THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT. UNCLASP me, Stranger; and unfold, If yet, alas, a leaf endure. In RABIDA's monastic fane No earthly thought has here a place, Here tempest-worn and desolate 1 "Twas here, unknowing and unknown, One hallowed morn, methought, I felt As if a soul within me dwelt ! Knelt before the cross and died- To me one little hour devote, 1 We have an interesting account of his first appearance PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. THERE is a spirit in the old Spanish Chroniclers of the sixteenth century that may be compared to the freshness of water at the fountain-head. Their simplicity, their sensibility to the strange and the wonderful, their very weaknesses give an infinite value, by giving a life and a character to every thing they touch; and their religion, which bursts out everywhere, addresses itself to the imagination in the highest degree. If they err, their errors are not their own. They think and feel after the fashion of the time; and their narratives are so many moving pictures of the actions, manners, and thoughts of their contemporaries. What they had to communicate, might well make them eloquent; but, inasmuch as relates to Columbus, the Inspiration went no farther. No National Poem appeared on the subject; no Camoëns did honour to his Genius and his Virtues. Yet the materials, that have descended to us, are surely not unpoetical; and a desire to avail myself of them, to convey in some instances as far as I could, in others as far as I dared, their warmth of colouring and wildness of imagery, led me to conceive the idea of a Poem written not long after his death, when the great consequences of the Discovery were beginning to unfold themselves, but while the minds of men were still clinging to the superstitions of their fathers. The Event here described may be thought too recent for the Machinery; but I found them together. 2 A belief in the agency of Evil Spirits prevailed over both hemispheres; and even yet seems almost necessary to enable us to clear up the Darkness, And justify the ways of God to Men. THE ARGUMENT. COLUMBUS, having wandered from kingdom to kingdom, at length obtains three ships and sets sail on the Atlantic. The compass alters from its ancient direction; the wind becomes constant and unremitting; night and day he advances, till he is suddenly stopped in his course by a mass of vegetation, extending as far as the eye can reach, and assuming the appearance of a country overwhelmed by the sea. Alarm and despondence on board. He resigns himself to the care of Heaven, and proceeds on his voyage. Meanwhile the deities of America assemble in council; and one of the Zemi, the gods of the islanders, announces his approach. "In vain," says he, "have we guarded the Atlantic for ages. A mortal has baffled our power; nor will our votaries arm against him. Yours are a sterner race. Hence! and, while we have recourse to stratagem, you array the nations round your altars, and prepare for an exterminating war." They disperse while he is yet speaking; and, in the shape of a condor, he directs his flight to the fleet. His journey described. He arrives there. A panic. A mutiny. Columbus restores order; continues on his voyage; and lands in a New World. Ceremonies do 2 Perhaps even a contemporary subject should not be rejected as such, however wild and extravagant it may be, if the manners be foreign and the place distant-major è longinquo reverentia. L'éloignement des pays, says Racine, répare en quelque sorte la trop grande proximité des temps; car le peuple ne met guère de différence entre ce qui est, si j'ose ainsi parler, à mille ans de lui, et ce qui en est à mille lieues. of the first interview. Rites of hospitality. The ghost of Cazziva. Two months pass away, and an Angel, appearing in a dream to Columbus, thus addresses him: "Return to Europe; though your Adversaries, such is the will of Heaven, shall let loose the hurricane against you. A little while shall they triumph; insinuating themselves into the hearts of your followers, and making the World, which you came to bless, a scene of blood and slaughter. Yet is there cause for rejoicing. Your work is done. The cross of Christ is planted here; and in due time, all things shall be made perfect!" CANTO I. Night-Columbus on the Atlantic-the Variation of SAY who, when age on age had rolled away, Yet, ere I die, I would fulfil my vow; Her awful face; and Nature's self reposed; Then sought his cabin; and, their garments spread, Whose voice is truth, whose wisdom is from heaven, When, lo, no more attracted to the Pole, assurance for this enterprise-He has opened my understanding, and made me most willing to go." See his Life by his son, Ferd. Columbus, entitled, Hist. del Almirante Don Christoval Colon c. 4 & 37. His Will begins thus: "In the name of the most holy Trinity, who inspired me with the idea, and who afterwards made it clear to me, that by traversing the Ocean westwardly," &c. 4 The compass might well be an object of superstition. A belief is said to prevail even at this day, that it will refuse to traverse when there is a dead body on board. 5 Herrera, dec. I. lib. i. c. 9. 6 When these regions were to be illuminated, says Acosta, cùm divino concilio decretum esset, prospectum etiam divinitus est, ut tam longi itineris dux certus hominibus præberetur.-De Natura Novi Orbis. A romantic circumstance is related of some early navigator in the Histoire Gén. des Voyages, I. i. 2. "On trouva dans l'île de Cuervo une statue équestre, couverte d'un manteau, mais la tête nue, qui tenoit de la main gauche la bride du cheval, et qui montroit l'occident de la main droite. Il y avoit sur le bas d'un roc quelques lettres gravées, qui ne furent point entendues; mais il parut clairement que le signe de la main regardoit l'Amérique." 7 Rev. xix. 17. 8 The more Christian opinion is, that God, with eyes of compassion, as it were, looking down from heaven, called forth those winds of mercy, whereby this new world received the hope of salvation.-Preambles to the Decades of the Ocean. 9 To return was deemed impossible, as it blew always from home. Hist. del Almirante, c. 19. Nos pavidi-at pater Anchises-lætus. CANTO II. The Voyage continued. "WHAT vast foundations in the Abyss are there, power, Who, from his birth to this eventful hour, And once again that valiant company Swift as the winds along the waters sweep, 1 Historians are not silent on the subject. The sailors, according to Herrera, saw the signs of an inundated country (tierras anegadas); and it was the general expectation that they should end their lives there, as others had done in the frozen sea, "where St. Amaro suffers no ship to stir backward or forward."-Hist. del Almirante, c. 19. 2 The author seems to have anticipated his long slumber in the library of the Fathers. 3 They may give me what name they please. I am servant of Him, &c. Hist. del Almirante, c. 2. 4 As St. Christopher carried Christ over the deep waters, so Columbus went over safe, himself and his company.— Hist. c. 1. 5 Water-spouts.-See Edwards's History of the West Indies, I, 12. Note. CANTO III. An Assembly of Evil Spirits. 1 THO' changed my cloth of gold for amice grey Yet little thought, tho' by his side I stood, "Twas in the deep, immeasurable cave Oh could I now-but how in mortal verseTheir numbers, their heroic deeds rehearse! These in dim shrines and barbarous symbols reign, Where PLATA and MARAGNON meet the Main 9. Those the wild hunter worships as he roves, In the green shade of CHILI's fragrant groves; Or warrior-tribes with rites of blood implore, Whose night-fires gleam along the sullen shore Of HURON Or ONTARIO, inland seas 10, What time the song of death is in the breeze! 'Twas now in dismal pomp and order due, While the vast concave flashed with lightnings blue, On shining pavements of metallic ore, That many an age the fusing sulphur bore, They held high council. All was silence round When, with a voice most sweet yet most profound, A sovereign Spirit burst the gates of night, And from his wings of gold shook drops of liquid light! MERTON, commissioned with his host to sweep I. "Prepare, again prepare," Thus o'er the soul the thrilling accents came, He, on whose call afflicting thunders wait, Hung in the tempest o'er the troubled main 2; Turned each presumptuous prow that broke the And dashed it on its shores again. [wave, All is fulfilled! Behold, in close array, "No voice as erst shall in the desert rise; With scorn of death the trembling tribes inspire. Wreaths for the Conqueror's brow the victims bind! Yet, tho' we fled yon firmament of fire, Still shall we fly, all hope of rule resigned?" "Ан, why look back, tho' all is left behind? -Still, as beyond this mortal life impelled At day-break might the Caravels be seen, Chasing their shadows o'er the deep serene; Their burnished prows lashed by the sparkling tide, Their green-cross standards waving far and wide. 1 La plupart de ces îles ne sont en effet que des pointes de montagnes: et la mer, qui est au-delà, est une vraie mer Méditerranée.-BUFFON. 2 The dominion of a bad angel over an unknown sea, infestandole con torbellinos y tempestades, and his flight before a Christian hero, are described in glowing language by Ovalle.-Hist. de Chile, IV. 8. 3 Light vessels, formerly used by the Spaniards and Portuguese. Round, at Primero, sate a whiskered band; CANTO V. The Voyage continued. YET Who but He undaunted could explore A world of waves, a sea without a shore, Trackless and vast and wild as that revealed When round the Ark the birds of tempest wheeled; When all was still in the destroying hour— No sign of man! no vestige of his power! One at the stern before the hour-glass stood, As 'twere to count the sands; one o'er the flood Gazed for St. Elmo'; while another cried [sighed. "Once more good morrow!" and sate down and Day, when it came, came only with its light. Though long invoked, 'twas sadder than the night! Look where He would, for ever as He turned, He met the eye of one that inly mourned. 8 Then sunk his generous spirit, and He wept. The friend, the father rose; the hero slept. PALOS, thy port, with many a pang resigned, Filled with its busy scenes his lonely mind; The solemn march, the vows in concert given, The bended knees and lifted hands to heaven, The incensed rites and choral harmonies, The Guardian's blessings mingling with his sighs; While his dear boys-ah, on his neck they hung,' And long at parting to his garments clung. 4 Among those who went with Columbus, were many adventurers, and gentlemen of the court. Primero was the game then in fashion.-See Vega, p. 2, lib iii. c. 9. 5 Many such appellations occur in Bernal Diaz, c. 204. 6 Many sighed and wept; and every hour seemed a year, says Herrera.-I. i. 9 and 10. 7 A luminous appearance of good omen. 8 His public procession to the convent of La Rábida on the day before he set sail. It was there that his sons had received their education; and he himself appears to have passed some time there, the venerable Guardian, Juan Perez de Marchena, being his zealous and affectionate friend. The ceremonies of his departure and return are represented in many of the fresco-paintings in the palaces of Genoa. 9" But I was most afflicted, when I thought of my two sons, whom I had left behind me in a strange country before I had done, or at least could be known to have done, anything which might incline your highnesses to remember them. And though I comforted myself with the reflection that our Lord would not suffer so earnest an endeavour for the exaltation of his church to come to nothing, yet I considered that, on account of my unworthiness," &c.-Hist. c. 37. Oft in the silent night-watch doubt and fear Right thro' the midst, when, fetlock-deep in gore, strike. "Oh born to wander with your flocks," he cried, He said, he drew; then, at his Master's frown, 'Twas the mid hour, when He, whose accents dread Still wandered thro' the regions of the dead, To elude the seraph-guard that watched for man, Roc of the West! to him all empire given ! 4 Mountains and seas fled backward as he passed Wings the blue element, and, borne sublime, CANTO VI. The flight of an Angel of Darkness. WAR and the Great in War let others sing, Still unsubdued by Danger's varying form, 1 Gonsalvo, or, as he is called in Castilian, Gonzalo Hernandez de Cordova; already known by the name of The Great Captain. Granada surrendered on the 2nd of January, 1492. Columbus set sail on the 3rd of August following. 2 Hist. e. 3. 3 The Cross of the South; "una Croce maravigliosa, e di tanta bellezza," says Andrea Corsali, a Florentine, writing to Giuliano of Medicis in 1515, " che non mi pare ad alcuno segno celeste doverla comparare. Es' io non mi |