(12TH OCTOBER 1492) <br /> <br />From his adventurous prime <br />He dreamed the dream sublime: <br />Over his wandering youth <br />It hung, a beckoning star. <br />At last the vision fled, <br />And left him in its stead <br />The scarce sublimer truth, <br />The world he found afar. <br /> <br />The scattered isles that stand <br />Warding the mightier land <br />Yielded their maidenhood <br />To his imperious prow. <br />The mainland within call <br />Lay vast and virginal: <br />In its blue porch he stood: <br />No more did fate allow. <br /> <br />No more! but ah, how much, <br />To be the first to touch <br />The veriest azure hem <br />Of that majestic robe! <br />Lord of the lordly sea, <br />Earth's mightiest sailor he: <br />Great Captain among them, <br />The captors of the globe. <br /> <br />When shall the world forget <br />Thy glory and our debt, <br />Indomitable soul, <br />Immortal Genoese? <br />Not while the shrewd salt gale <br />Whines amid shroud and sail, <br />Above the rhythmic roll <br />And thunder of the seas.<br /><br />William Watson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/columbus-3/
