[Inscribed On The Original Manuscript.] <br /> <br />Unclasp me, Stranger; and unfold, <br />With trembling care my leaves of gold, <br />Rich in gothic portraiture-- <br />If yet, alas, a leaf endure. <br /> <br />In Rabida's monastic fane <br />I cannot ask, and ask in vain. <br />The language an Arab, many a Greek, <br />Old in the days of Charlemain; <br />When minstrel-music wandered round, <br />And Science, waking, blessed the sound. <br /> <br />No earthly thought has here a place, <br />The cowl let down on every face; <br />Yet here, in consecrated dust, <br />Here would I sleep, if sleep I must. <br />From Genoa when Columbus came, <br />(At once her glory and her shame) <br />'Twas here he caught the holy flame. <br />'Twas here the generous vow he made; <br />His banners on the altar laid. <br /> <br />Here tempest-worn and desolate <br />A Pilot, journeying thro' the wild, <br />Stopt to solicit at the gate <br />A pittance for his child. <br />'Twas here, unknowing and unknown, <br />He stood upon the threshold-stone. <br />But hope was his -- a faith sublime, <br />That triumphs over place and time; <br />And here, his mighty labour done, <br />And his course of glory run, <br />Awhile as more than man he stood, <br />So large the debt of gratitude! <br /> <br />One hallowed morn, methought, I felt <br />As if a soul within me dwelt! <br />But who arose and gave to me <br />The sacred trust I keep for thee, <br />And in his cell at even-tide <br />Knelt before the cross and died-- <br />Inquire not now. His name no more <br />Glimmers on the chancel-floor, <br />Near the lights that ever shine <br />Before St. Mary's blessed shrine. <br /> <br />To me one little hour devote, <br />And lay thy staff and scrip beside thee; <br />Read in the temper that he wrote, <br />And may his gentle spirit guide thee! <br />My leaves forsake me, one by one; <br />The book-worm thro' and thro' has gone. <br />Oh haste -- unclasp me, and unfold; <br />The tale within was never told! <br /> <br />CANTO I. <br />Night--Columbus on the Atlantic--the Variation of the Compass,
