Poems by Samuel Rogers Part 22

_By his white plume reveal'd and buskins white,_

It is said that Pizarro used to dress in this fashion; after Gonzalo, whom he had served under in Italy.

NOTE d.

_'Twas MERION'S self, covering with dreadful shade._

Now one, Now other, as their shape serv'd best his end.

Undoubtedly, says Herrera, the Infernal Spirit a.s.sumed various shapes in that region of the world.

NOTE e.

_Then, inly gliding, &c._

The original pa.s.sage is here translated at full length.

Then, inly gliding like a subtle flame, Thrice, with a cry that thrill'd the mortal frame, Call'd on the Spirit within. Disdaining flight, Calmly she rose, collecting all her might. [Footnote]

Dire was the dark encounter! Long unquell'd, Her sacred seat, sovereign and pure, she held.

At length the great Foe binds her for his prize, And awful, as in death, the body lies!

Not long to slumber! In an evil hour Inform'd and lifted by the unknown Power, It starts, it speaks'. "We live, we breathe no more!" &c.

Many a modern reader will exclaim in the language of Pococurante, 'Quelle triste extravagance!' Let a great theologian of that day, a monk of the Augustine order, be consulted on the subject. 'Corpus ille perimere vel jugulare potest; nec id mod, verum et animam ita urgere, et in angustum coarctare novit, ut in momento quoque illi excedendum sit.'

[Footnote: --magnum si pectore possit Excussisse deum.]

NOTE f.

_The sc.u.m of Folly, and of Fraud the prey;_

Nudo nocchier, promett.i.tor di regni!

By the Genoese and the Spaniards he was regarded as a man resolved on 'a wild dedication of himself to unpath'd waters, undream'd sh.o.r.es;'

and the court of Portugal endeavoured to rob him of the glory of his enterprise, by secretly dispatching a vessel in the course which he had pointed out. 'Lorsqu'il avail promis un nouvel hemisphere,' says Voltaire, 'on lui avait soutenu que cet hemisphere ne pouvait exister; et quand il l'eut decouvert, on pretendit qu'il avait ete connu depuis long-temps.'

NOTE g.

_The hand that s.n.a.t.c.h'd it sparkling in the tide,_

The drinking cups of the Islanders, if we may believe a contemporary of Columbus, were _ex lignu...lucido confecta, el arte mira lalorata._ P. Martyr, dec. i. 5.

NOTE h.

_Rose to the Virgin._

Salve, regina. Herrera, I. i. 12.--It was the usual service, and always sung with great solemnity. 'I remember one evening,' says Oviedo, 'when the ship was in full sail, and all the men were on their knees, singing Salve, regina, &c. Relacion Sommaria.--The hymn, O Sanctissima, is still to be heard after sunset along the sh.o.r.es of Sicily, and its effect may be better conceived than described. See Brydone, I. 330.

NOTE i.

_Chosen of men!_

I believe that he was _chosen_ for this great service; and that, because he was to be so truly an apostle, as in effect be proved to be, therefore was his origin obscure; that therein he might resemble those who were called to make known the name of the Lord from seas and rivers, and not from courts and palaces. And I believe also, that, as in most of his doings he was guarded by some special providence, his very name was not without some mystery: for in it is expressed the wonder he performed; inasmuch as he conveyed to a new world the grace of the Holy Ghost, &c. F. COL. c. 1.

NOTE k.

_Slowly to land the sacred cross we bore,_

Signifying to the Infernal Powers (all' infierno todo) the will of the Most High, that they should renounce a world over which they had tyrannised for so many ages. OVALLE, iv. 5.

NOTE l.

_But how the scene pourtray?_

'This country excels all others, as far as the day surpa.s.ses the night in splendour.--Nor is there a better people in the world. They love their neighbour as themselves; their conversation is the sweetest imaginable, their faces always smiling; and so gentle, so affectionate are they, that I swear to your highnesses,' &c.

F. COL. c. 30, 33.

NOTE m.

_Nymphs of romance,_

Dryades formosissimas, aut nativas fontium nymphas, de quibus fabulatur antiquitas, se vidisse arbitrati sunt. P. MARTYR, dec. i.

lib. 5.

NOTE n.

_Youths graceful as the Faun,_

An eminent Painter, when he first saw the Apollo of the Belvidere, was struck with its resemblance to an American warrior. West's discourse in the Royal Academy, 1794.

NOTE o.

_But see, the regal plumes, the couch of state!_

'The Cacique came down to the sh.o.r.e in a sort of palanquin--attended by his antient men.--The gifts, which he received from me, were afterwards carried before him.' F. COLUMBUS, c. 32.

NOTE p.

_The wondrous ring, and lamp, and horse of bra.s.s._

The ring of Gyges, the lamp of Aladdin, and the horse of the Tartar king.

NOTE q.

_Ceiba,_

The wild cotton tree, often mentioned in History. 'Cortes,' says Bernal Diaz, 'took possession of the Country in the following manner.

Drawing his sword, he gave three cuts with it into a great Ceiba and said------'

NOTE r.