Night held on old Castile her silent reign, Her half orb'd moon declining to the main; O'er Valladolid's regal turrets hazed The drizzly fogs from dull Pisuerga raised; Whose hovering sheets, along the welkin driven, Thinn'd the pale stars, and shut the eye from heaven. Cold-hearted Ferdinand his pillow prest, Nor dream'd of those his mandates robb'd of rest, Of him who gemm'd his crown, who stretch'd his reign To realms that weigh'd the tenfold poise of Spain; Who now beneath his tower indungeon'd lies, Sweats the chill sod and breathes inclement skies. His feverish pulse, slow laboring thro his frame, Feeds with scant force its fast expiring flame; A far dim watch-lamp's thrice reflected beam Throws thro his grates a mist-encumber'd gleam, Paints the dun vapors that the cell invade, And fills with spectred forms the midnight shade; When from a visionary short repose, That nursed new cares and temper'd keener woes, Columbus woke, and to the walls addrest The deep felt sorrows bursting from his breast: Here lies the purchase, here the wretched spoil Of painful years and persevering toil. For these damp caves, this hideous haunt of pain, I traced new regions o'er the chartless main, Tamed all the dangers of untraversed waves, Hung o'er their clefts, and topt their surging graves, Saw traitorous seas o'er coral mountains sweep, Red thunders rock the pole and scorch the deep, Death rear his front in every varying form, Gape from the shoals and ride the roaring storm, My struggling bark her seamy planks disjoin, Rake the rude rock and drink the copious brine. Till the tired elements are lull'd at last, And milder suns allay the billowing blast, Lead on the trade winds with unvarying force, And long and landless curve our constant course. Our homeward heaven recoils; each night forlorn Calls up new stars, and backward rolls the morn; The boreal vault descends with Europe's shore, And bright Calisto shuns the wave no more, The Dragon dips his fiery-foaming jole, The affrighted magnet flies the faithless pole; Nature portends a general change of laws, My daring deeds are deemed the guilty cause; The desperate crew, to insurrection driven, Devote their captain to the wrath of heaven, Resolve at once to end the audacious strife, And buy their safety with his forfeit life. In that sad hour, this feeble frame to save, (Unblest reprieve) and rob the gaping wave, The morn broke forth, these tearful orbs descried The golden banks that bound the western tide. With full success I calm'd the clamorous race, Bade heaven's blue arch a second earth embrace; And gave the astonish'd age that bounteous shore, Their wealth to nations, and to kings their power.