Poems by Samuel Rogers Part 18

There sits the bird that speaks! [Footnote 2] there, quivering, rise Wings that reflect the glow of evening skies!

Half bird, half fly, [r] the fairy king of flowers [Footnote 3]

Reigns there, and revels thro' the fragrant hours; [s]

Gem full of life, and joy, and song divine, Soon in the virgin's graceful ear to shine. [Footnote 4]

'Twas he that sung, if antient Fame speaks truth, "Come! follow, follow to the Fount of Youth!

I quaff the ambrosial mists that round it rise, Dissolv'd and lost in dreams of Paradise!"

For there call'd forth, to bless a happier hour, It met the sun in many a rainbow-shower!

Murmuring delight, its living waters roll'd 'Mid branching palms and amaranths of gold! [Footnote 5]

[Footnote 1: aetas est illis aurea. Apertis vivunt hortis. P. Martyr, dec. I. 3.]

[Footnote 2: The Parrot, as described by Aristotle. Hist. Animal, viii. 12.]

[Footnote 3: The Humming-bird. Kakopit (florum regulus) is the name of an Indian bird, referred to this cla.s.s by Seba.]

[Footnote 4: Il sert apres sa mort aparer les jeunes Indiennes, qui portent en pendans d'oreilles deux de ces charmans oiseaux. Buffon.]

[Footnote 5: According to an antient tradition. See Oviedo, Vega, Herrera, &c. Not many years afterwards a Spaniard of distinction wandered every where in search of it; and no wonder, as Robertson observes, when Columbus himself could imagine that he had found the seat of Paradise,]

CANTO XI.

Evening--a banquet--the ghost of Cazziva.

Her leaves at length the conscious tamarind clos'd, And from wild sport the marmoset repos'd; Fresh from the lake the breeze of twilight blew, And vast and deep the mountain-shadows grew; When many a fire-fly, shooting thro' the glade, Spangled the locks of many a lovely maid, Who now danc'd forth to strew His path with flowers.

And hymn His welcome to celestial bowers. [Footnote 1]

There od'rous lamps adorn'd the festal rite, And guavas blush'd as in the vales of light, [Footnote 2]

--There silent sat many an unbidden Guest, [Footnote 3]

Whose stedfast looks a secret dread impress'd; Not there forgot the sacred fruit that fed At nightly feasts the Spirits of the Dead, Mingling in scenes that mirth to mortals give, Tho' by their sadness known from those that live.

There met, as erst, within the wonted grove, Unmarried girls and youths that died for love!

Sons now beheld their antient sires again; And sires, alas, their sons in battle slain!

But whence that sigh? 'Twas from a heart that broke!

And whence that voice? As from the grave it spoke!

And who, as unresolv'd the feast to share, Sits half-withdrawn in faded splendour there?

'Tis he of yore, the warrior and the sage, Whose lips have mov'd in prayer from age to age; Whose eyes, that wander'd as in search before, Now on COLUMBUS fix'd--to search no more!

CAZZIVA, [Footnote 4] gifted in his day to know The gathering signs of a long night of woe; Gifted by Those who give but to enslave; No rest in death! no refuge in the grave!

--With sudden spring as at the shout of war, He flies! and, turning in his flight, from far Glares thro' the gloom like some portentous star!

Unseen, unheard!--Hence, Minister of Ill! [Footnote 5]

Hence, 'tis not yet the hour; tho' come it will!

They that foretold--too soon shall they fulfil; [Footnote 6]

When forth they rush as with the torrent's sweep, [Footnote 7]

And deeds are done that make the Angels weep!--

Hark, o'er the busy mead the sh.e.l.l [Footnote 8] proclaim Triumphs, and masques, and high heroic games.

And now the old sit round; and now the young Climb the green boughs, the murmuring doves among.

Who claims the prize, when winged feet contend; When tw.a.n.ging bows the flaming arrows [Footnote 9] send?

Who stands self-centred in the field of fame, And, grappling, flings to earth a giant's frame?

Whilst all, with anxious hearts and eager eyes, Bend as he bends, and, as he rises, rise!

And CORA'S self, in pride of beauty here, Trembles with grief and joy, and hope and fear!

(She who, the fairest, ever flew the first, With cup of balm to quench his burning thirst; Knelt at his head, her fan-leaf in her hand, And humm'd the air that pleas'd him, while she fann'd) How blest his lot!--tho', by the Muse unsung, His name shall perish, when his knell is rung.

That night, transported, with a sigh I said "'Tis all a dream!"--Now, like a dream, 'tis fled; And many and many a year has pa.s.s'd away, And I alone remain to watch and pray!

Yet oft in darkness, on my bed of straw, Oft I awake and think on what I saw!

The groves, the birds, the youths, the nymphs recall, And CORA, loveliest, sweetest of them all!

[Footnote 1: P. Martyr, dec. i. 5.]

[Footnote 2: They believed that the souls of good men were conveyed to a pleasant valley, abounding in guavas and other delicious fruits.

Herrera, I. iii. 3. F Columbus, c. 62.]

[Footnote 3: "The dead walk abroad in the night, and feast with the living;" (F. Columbus, c. 62) and "eat of the fruit called Guannaba."

P. Martyr, dec. I. 9.]

[Footnote 4: An antient Cacique, in his life-time and after his death, employed by the Zemi to alarm his people.

See F. Columbus, c. 62.]

[Footnote 5: The Author is speaking in his inspired character. Hidden things arc revealed to him, and placed before his mind as if they were present.]

[Footnote 6: Nor could they (the Powers of Darkness) have more effectually prevented the progress of the Faith, than by desolating the New World; by burying nations alive in mines, or consigning them in all their errors to the sword. Relacion de B. de las Casas.]

[Footnote 7: Not man alone, but many other animals became extinct there.]

[Footnote 8: P. Martyr, dec. iii. c. 7.]

[Footnote 9: Rochefort. c. xx. p. 559.]

CANTO XII.

A Vision.

Still would I speak of Him before I went, Who among us a life of sorrow spent, [u]

And, dying, left a world his monument; Still, if the time allow'd! My Hour draws near; But He will prompt me when I faint with fear.

---Alas, He hears me not! He cannot hear!

Twice the Moon fill'd her silver urn with light.

Then from the Throne an Angel wing'd his flight; He, who unfix'd the compa.s.s, and a.s.sign'd O'er the wild waves a pathway to the wind; Who, while approach'd by none but Spirits pure, Wrought, in his progress thro' the dread obscure, Signs like the ethereal bow--that shall endure! [Footnote 1]

Before the great Discoverer, laid to rest, He stood, and thus his secret soul address'd. [Footnote 2]

"The wind recalls thee; its still voice obey.

Millions await thy coming; hence, away.

To thee blest tidings of great joy consign'd, Another Nature, and a new Mankind!

The vain to dream, the wise to doubt shall cense; Young men be glad, and old depart in peace! [Footnote 3]

Hence! tho' a.s.sembling in the fields of air, Now, in a night of clouds, thy Foes prepare To rock the globe with elemental wars, And dash the floods of ocean to the stars; [Footnote 4]

To bid the meek repine, the valiant weep, And Thee restore thy Secret to the Deep! [Footnote 5]

Not then to leave Thee! to their vengeance cast, Thy heart their aliment, their dire repast! [Footnote 6]

To other eyes shall MEXICO unfold Her feather'd tapestries, [Footnote 7] and roofs of gold.

To other eyes, from distant cliff descried, [x]

Shall the PACIFIC roll his ample tide.

Chains thy reward! beyond the ATLANTIC wave Hung in thy chamber, buried in thy grave! [y]

Thy reverend form [z] to time and grief a prey, A phantom wandering in the light of day!