Poems by Samuel Rogers Part 19

What tho' thy grey hairs to the dust descend, Their scent shall track thee, track thee to the end; [Footnote 8]

Thy sons reproach'd with their great father's fame, And on his world inscrib'd another's name!

That world a prison-house, full of sights of woe, Where groans burst forth, and tears in torrents flow!

These gardens of the sun, sacred to song, By dogs of carnage, howling loud and long, [Footnote 9]

Swept--till the voyager, in the desert air, [a]

Starts back to hear his alter'd accents there! [Footnote 10]

Not thine the olive, but the sword to bring, Not peace, but war! Yet from these sh.o.r.es shall spring Peace without end; [Footnote 11] from these, with blood defil'd, Spread the pure spirit of thy Master mild!

Here, in His train, shall arts and arms attend, [b]

Arts to adorn, and arms but to defend.

a.s.sembling here, all nations shall be blest; [c]

The sad be comforted; the weary rest: Untouch'd shall drop the fetters from the slave; [d]

And He shall rule the world he died to save!

Hence, and rejoice. The glorious work is done.

A spark is thrown that shall eclipse the sun!

And, tho' bad men shall long thy course pursue, As erst the ravening brood o'er chaos flew, [Footnote 12]

He, whom I serve, shall vindicate his reign; The spoiler spoil'd of all; [e] the slayer slain; [Footnote 13]

The tyrant's self, oppressing and opprest, Mid gems and gold unenvied and unblest: [Footnote 14]

While to the starry sphere thy name shall rise, (Not there unsung thy generous enterprise!) Thine in all hearts to dwell--by Fame enshrin'd, With those, the Few, that live but for Mankind."

[Footnote 1: It is remarkable that these phenomena still remain among the mysteries of nature.]

[Footnote 2: Te tua fata docebo. Virg.----Saprai di tua vita il viaggio. Dante.]

[Footnote 3: P. Martyr. Epist, 133. 152.]

[Footnote 4: When he entered the Tagus, all the seamen ran from all parts to behold, as it were some wonder, a ship that had escaped so terrible a storm. F. Columbus, c. 40.]

[Footnote 5: I wrote on a parchment that I had discovered what I had promised! --and, having put it into a cask, I threw it into the sea.

Ibid. c. 37.]

[Footnote 6: See the Eumenides of aeschylus, v. 305, &c.]

[Footnote 7: Clavigero. VII. 52.]

[Footnote 8: See the Eumenides. v. 246.]

[Footnote 9: One of these, on account of his extraordinary sagacity and fierceness, received the full allowance of a soldier. His name was Bezerillo.]

[Footnote 10: No unusual effect of an exuberant vegetation. 'The air was so vitiated,' says an African traveller, 'that our torches burnt dim, and seemed ready to be extinguished; and even the human voice lost its natural tone.']

[Footnote 11: See Washington's farewell address to his fellow-citizens.]

[Footnote 12: See Paradise Lost. X.]

[Footnote 13: Cortes, Pizarro.--'Almost all,' says Las Casas, 'have perished. The innocent blood, which they had shed, cried aloud for vengeance; the sighs, the tears of so many victims went up before G.o.d.']

[Footnote 14: L'Espagne a fait comme ce roi insense qui demanda que tout ce qu'il toucheroit se convert.i.t en or, et qui fut oblige de revenir aux dieux pour les prier de finir sa misere. Montesquieu.]

On the two last leaves, and written in another hand, are some stanzas in the romance or ballad measure of the Spaniards. The subject is an adventure soon related.

Thy lonely watch-tower, Larenille, Had lost the western sun; And loud and long from hill to hill Echoed the evening-gun, When Hernan, rising on his oar, Shot like an arrow from the sh.o.r.e.

--"Those lights are on St. Mary's Isle; They glimmer from the sacred pile." [Footnote 1]

The waves were rough; the hour was late.

But soon across the Tinto borne, Thrice he blew the signal-horn, He blew and would not wait.

Home by his dangerous path he went; Leaving, in rich habiliment, Two Strangers at the Convent-gate.

They ascended by steps hewn out in the rock; and, having asked for admittance, were lodged there,

Brothers in arms the Guests appear'd; The Youngest with a Princely grace!

Short and sable was his beard, Thoughtful and wan his face.

His velvet cap a medal bore, And ermine fring'd his broider'd vest; And, ever sparkling on his breast, An image of St. John he wore. [Footnote 2]

The Eldest had a rougher aspect, and there was craft in his eye. He stood a little behind in a long black mantle, his hand resting upon the hilt of his sword; and his white hat and white shoes glittered in the moon-shine. [Footnote 3]

"Not here unwelcome, tho' unknown.

Enter and rest!" the Friar said.

The moon, that thro' the portal shone, Shone on his reverend head.

Thro' many a court and gallery dim Slowly he led, the burial-hymn Swelling from the distant choir.

But now the holy men retire; The arched cloisters issuing thro'

In long long order, two and two.

When other sounds had died away, And the waves were heard alone, They enter'd, tho' unus'd to pray, Where G.o.d was worshipp'd, night and day, And the dead knelt round in stone; They enter'd, and from aisle to aisle Wander'd with folded arms awhile, Where on his altar-tomb reclin'd [f]

The crosier'd Abbot; and the Knight In harness for the Christian fight, His hands in supplication join'd;-- Then said as in a solemn mood, "Now stand we where COLUMBUS stood!"

"PEREZ, [Footnote 4] thou good old man," they cried, "And art thou in thy place of rest?-- Tho' in the western world His grave, [Footnote 5] [g]

That other world, the gift He gave, [Footnote 6]

Would ye were sleeping side by side!

Of all his friends He lov'd thee best."

The supper in the chamber done, Much of a Southern Sea they spake, And of that glorious City [Footnote 7] won Near the setting of the Sun, Thron'd in a silver lake; Of seven kings in chains of gold [Footnote 8]-- And deeds of death by tongue untold, Deeds such as breath'd in secret there Had shaken the Confession-chair!

The Eldest swore by our Lady, [Footnote 9] the Youngest by his conscience; [Footnote 10] while the Franciscan, sitting by in his grey habit, turned away and crossed himself again and again. "Here is a little book," said he at last, "the work of one in his shroud below. It tells of things you have mentioned; and, were Cortes and Pizarro here, it might perhaps make them reflect for a moment." The Youngest smiled as he took it into his hand. He read it aloud to his companion with an unfaltering voice; but, when he laid it down, a silence ensued; nor was he seen to smile again that night.

[Footnote 11] "The curse is heavy," said he at parting, "but Cortes may live to disappoint it."--"Aye, and Pizarro too!"

[Footnote 1: The Convent of Rabida.]

[Footnote 2: See Bernal Diaz, c. 203; and also a well-known portrait of Cortes, ascribed to t.i.tian. Cortes was now in the 43d, Pizarro in the 60th year of his age.]

[Footnote 3: Augustin Zarate, lib. iv. c. 9.]

[Footnote 4: Late Superior of the House.]

[Footnote 5: In the chancel of the cathedral of St. Domingo.]

[Footnote 6: The words of the epitaph. "A Castilia y a Leon nuevo Mundo dio Colon."]

[Footnote 7: Mexico.]