The Poems of Philip Freneau Volume I Part 14

[39] Sylvan.--_Ed. 1786._

[40] Dolly.--_Ed. 1786._

[41]

"But swift as changing goblets pa.s.s, They bless the virtues of the gla.s.s."--_Ed. 1786._

THE DYING ELM[42]

Sweet, lovely Elm, who here dost grow Companion of unsocial care, Lo! thy dejected branches die Amidst this torrid air-- Smit by the sun or blasting moon, Like fainting flowers, their verdure gone.

Thy withering leaves, that drooping hang, Presage thine end approaching nigh; And lo! thy amber tears distill, Attended with that parting sigh-- O charming tree! no more decline, But be thy shades and love-sick whispers mine.

Forbear to die--this weeping eye Shall shed her little drops on you, Shall o'er thy sad disaster grieve, And wash thy wounds with pearly dew, Shall pity you, and pity me, And heal the languor of my tree!

Short is thy life, if thou so soon must fade, Like angry Jonah's gourd at Nineveh, That, in a night, its bloomy branches spread, And perish'd with the day.-- Come, then, revive, sweet lovely Elm, lest I, Thro' vehemence of heat, like Jonah, wish to die.

[42] First published in the June number of the _United States Magazine_, 1779, under the t.i.tle, "The Dying Elm: An Irregular Ode." This earliest version was much changed in its later editions; the third stanza was added for the edition of 1786. It may be doubted if Freneau much improved the poem from its first draft, save by the additional stanza.

Following are some of the lines as they stood originally: "Companion of my musing care;" "Like fainting flowers that die at noon;" "O gentle tree, no more decline;" "And flourish'd for a day;" "Come, then, revive, sweet shady elm, lest I." With two minor exceptions the text was unvaried for the later editions.

COLUMBUS TO FERDINAND[43]

Columbus was a considerable number of years engaged in soliciting the Court of Spain to fit him out, in order to discover a new continent, which he imagined existed somewhere in the western parts of the ocean. During his negotiations, he is here supposed to address king Ferdinand in the following Stanzas.

Ill.u.s.trious monarch of Iberia's soil, Too long I wait permission to depart; Sick of delays, I beg thy list'ning ear-- Shine forth the patron and the prince of art.

While yet Columbus breathes the vital air, Grant his request to pa.s.s the western main: Reserve this glory for thy native soil, And what must please thee more--for thy own reign.

Of this huge globe, how small a part we know-- Does heaven their worlds to western suns deny?-- How disproportion'd to the mighty deep The lands that yet in human prospect lie!

Does Cynthia, when to western skies arriv'd, Spend her sweet beam upon the barren main, And ne'er illume with midnight splendor, she, The natives dancing on the lightsome green?--

Should the vast circuit of the world contain Such wastes of ocean, and such scanty land?-- 'Tis reason's voice that bids me think not so, I think more n.o.bly of the Almighty hand.

Does yon' fair lamp trace half the circle round To light the waves and monsters of the seas?-- No--be there must beyond the billowy waste Islands, and men, and animals, and trees.

An unremitting flame my breast inspires To seek new lands amidst the barren waves, Where falling low, the source of day descends, And the blue sea his evening visage laves.

Hear, in his tragic lay, Cordova's sage:[A]

"_The time shall come, when numerous years are past, "The ocean shall dissolve the bands of things, "And an extended region rise at last;_

[A] Seneca the poet, native of Cordova in Spain.--_Freneau's note_ (_1786_). _Venient annis secula seris, quibus ocea.n.u.s vincula rerum laxet, et ingens pateat tellus, Typhisque novos detegat orbes; nec sit terris Ultima Thule._--Seneca, Med., Act. III, V. 375. (_Ibid. Ed.

1795 et seq._)

"_And Typhis shall disclose the mighty land "Far, far away, where none have rov'd before; "Nor shall the world's remotest region be "Gibraltar's rock, or Thule's[B] savage sh.o.r.e._"[44]

[B] Supposed by many to be the Orkney or Shetland Isles.--_Freneau's note._

Fir'd at the theme, I languish to depart, Supply the barque, and bid Columbus sail, He fears no storms upon the untravell'd deep; Reason shall steer, and skill disarm the gale.

Nor does he dread to lose the intended course, Though far from land the reeling galley stray, And skies above, and gulphy seas below Be the sole objects seen for many a day.

Think not that Nature has unveil'd in vain The mystic magnet to the mortal eye: So late have we the guiding needle plann'd Only to sail beneath our native sky?

Ere this was found, the ruling power of all Found for our use an ocean in the land, Its breadth so small we could not wander long, Nor long be absent from the neighbouring strand.

Short was the course, and guided by the stars, But stars no more shall point our daring way; The Bear shall sink, and every guard be drown'd, And great Arcturus scarce escape the sea,

When southward we shall steer--O grant my wish.

Supply the barque, and bid Columbus sail, He dreads no tempests on the untravell'd deep, Reason shall steer, and shall disarm the gale.

[43] According to the edition of 1786, this poem was "written 1770."

The first trace that I find of it is in the June number of the _United States Magazine_, 1779. The 1786 text, which I have followed, was changed but little in the later editions.

[44] This is a translation of the pa.s.sage from Seneca used on the t.i.tle page of _The Rising Glory of America_.

THE RISING GLORY OF AMERICA[45]

Being part of a Dialogue p.r.o.nounced on a public occasion.

ARGUMENT

The subject proposed.--The discovery of America by Columbus.-- A philosophical enquiry into the origin of the savages of America.--The first planters from Europe.--Causes of their migration to America.--The difficulties they encountered from the jealousy of the natives.--Agriculture descanted on.--Commerce and navigation.--Science.--Future prospects of British usurpation, tyranny, and devastation on this side the Atlantic.--The more comfortable one of Independence, Liberty and Peace.--Conclusion.

_Acasto_

Now shall the adventurous muse attempt a theme More new, more n.o.ble and more flush of fame Than all that went before-- Now through the veil of ancient days renew The period famed when first Columbus touched 5 These sh.o.r.es so long unknown--through various toils, Famine, and death, the hero forced his way, Through oceans pregnant with perpetual storms, And climates hostile to adventurous man.

But why, to prompt your tears, should we resume, 10 The tale of Cortez, furious chief, ordained With Indian blood to dye the sands, and choak, Famed Mexico, thy streams with dead? or why Once more revive the tale so oft rehea.r.s.ed Of Atabilipa, by thirst of gold, 15 (Too conquering motive in the human breast,) Deprived of life, which not Peru's rich ore Nor Mexico's vast mines could then redeem?

Better these northern realms demand our song, Designed by nature for the rural reign, 20 For agriculture's toil.--No blood we shed For metals buried in a rocky waste.-- Cursed be that ore, which brutal makes our race And prompts mankind to shed their kindred blood.

_Eugenio_

But whence arose 25 That vagrant race who love the shady vale, And choose the forest for their dark abode?-- For long has this perplext the sages' skill To investigate.--Tradition lends no aid To unveil this secret to the human eye, 30 When first these various nations, north and south, Possest these sh.o.r.es, or from what countries came; Whether they sprang from some primaeval head In their own lands, like Adam in the east,-- Yet this the sacred oracles deny, 35 And reason, too, reclaims against the thought: For when the general deluge drowned the world Where could their tribes have found security, Where find their fate, but in the ghastly deep?-- Unless, as others dream, some chosen few 40 High on the Andes 'scaped the general death, High on the Andes, wrapt in endless snow, Where winter in his wildest fury reigns, And subtile aether scarce our life maintains.