They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow, Until at last the blanched mate said: "Why, now not even God would know Should I and all my men fall dead. These very winds forget their way, For God from these dread seas is gone. Now speak, brave Admiral, speak and say--" He said: "Sail on! sail on! and on!" They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate: "This mad sea shows his teeth tonight. He curls his lip, he lies in wait, He lifts his teeth, as if to bite! Brave Admiral, say but one good word; What shall we do when hope is gone?" The words leapt like a leaping sword: "Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!" Then pale and worn, he paced his deck, And peered through darkness. Ah, that night, Of all dark nights! And then a speck-- A light! A light! At last a light! It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! It grew to be Time's burst of dawn. He gained a world; he gave that world Its grandest lesson: "Oh! sail on!" _Joaquin Miller_ He failed. He reached to grasp Hesperides, To track the foot-course of the sun, that flies Toward some far western couch, and watch its rise-- But fell on unknown sand-reefs, chains, disease. He won. With splendid daring, from the sea's Hard, niggard fist he plucked the glittering prize, And gave a virgin world to Europe's eyes, Where gold dust choked the streams, and spice the breeze. He failed fulfillment of the task he planned, And drooped a weary head on empty hand, Unconscious of the vaster deed he'd done; But royal legacy to Ferdinand He left--a key to doorways gilt with sun-- And proudest title of "World-father" won! _George W. W. Houghton_ With all the visionary fervor of his imagination, its fondest dreams fell short of the reality. He died in ignorance of the real grandeur of his discovery. Until his last breath, he entertained the idea that he had merely opened a new way to the old resorts of opulent commerce, and had discovered some of the wild regions of the East.... What visions of glory would have broke upon his mind, could he have known that he had indeed discovered a new continent, equal to the whole of the old world in magnitude, and separated by two vast oceans from all of the earth hitherto known by civilized man; and how would his magnanimous spirit have been consoled, amidst the chills of age and cares of penury, the neglect of a fickle public, and the injustice of an ungrateful king, could he have anticipated the splendid empires which were to spread over the beautiful world he had discovered, and the nations, and tongues, and languages, which were to fill its lands with his renown, and to revere and bless his name to the latest posterity!