Then, from formless void emerging, Earth spread wide her fields and hills, Woke the untrod glooms with music Of her new-born leaping rills;— Then the firmament, in grandeur, Lit its unveiled depths of blue With the moon in full-orbed beauty And the young stars beaming through. And the sunshine thrilled earth’s bosom, Quickened germ-imprisoned life— Soon the hillsides and the valleys Were with floral beauty rife;—Forests robed the mountain ranges, Bound their sun-crooned brows with green, While the mighty, sea-fed rivers Rolled in majesty between. * * * * * Farther on in Life’s gradations He who tuned the spheric roll, Back in Nature’s barred Arcana, Gave and clothed the human soul. Hush, oh thought, nor dare to question _How_ creative laws adjust! Canst thou comprehend Jehovah Or the elemental “dust?” Here, oh spirit, rest with child-faith; Covet not forbidden things. LIFE, the vainly sought for secret, Proof, to us, of Godhood brings— Of the Infinite, beyond us— Far beyond the grasp of mind;— Kneeling, trusting, here we worship God—Jehovah, Undefined. Columbus. O’er the stormy, pathless seas, Nobly proud, the Genoese To a shadowed realm sailed; With a will to brave and bear, Sought he chance to do and dare, ’Mid the perils he must share That Earth’s grandeur be unveiled. Pilgrims sailed to lighted shores, Hope and Home with open doors, But thro’ dusky deeps, unknown, Boldly this explorer plowed, Facing danger’s darkling crowd And Fate’s looming, gestant cloud, From the waste of waters blown. Heaven gave to him a soul Finely fashioned to control With a wondrous spirit might— That should sweep of doubt and fear, Broad and bright, a pathway clear— By it lift a hemisphere Into Freedom’s joyous light. Purpose, daring were sublime— His the crowning deeds of Time; Life, for others’ gain, was spent Opening Earth’s great treasure-doors— Half a world with Bounty’s stores— Mountains, rich in precious ores— Caves with sparkling gems besprent. Justice gave unquestioned claim To the highest niche of Fame, But what recompense was Spain’s? She, thro’ craven sons of lust, Honor stabbed, with feigned distrust— Trampled his great soul in dust, Scorned and loaded him with chains. Now she comes to steal his bones: Earth revile! In thunder tones Tell the tale of wrong and shame; Write this edict out in flame— In the hemisphere he gave, (Which he begged might be his grave) She, of Greed, the wasted slave, Shall have nevermore a name. Transcriber’s note