Its balanced mountains from each crumbling side. Sire Ocean hears his proud Maragnon roar, Moves up his bed, and seeks in vain the shore, Then surging strong, with high and hoary tide, Whelms back the Stream and checks his rolling pride. The stream ungovernable foams with ire, Climbs, combs tempestuous, and attacks the Sire; Earth feels the conflict o'er her bosom spread, Her isles and uplands hide their wood-crown'd head; League after league from land to water change, From realm to realm the seaborn monsters range; Vast midland heights but pierce the liquid plain, Old Andes tremble for their proud domain; Till the fresh Flood regains his forceful sway, Drives back his father Ocean, lash'd with spray; Whose ebbing waters lead the downward sweep, And waves and trees and banks roll whirling to the deep. Where suns less ardent cast their golden beams, And minor Andes pour a waste of streams, The marsh of Moxoe scoops the world, and fills (From Bahia's coast to Cochabamba's hills) A thousand leagues of bog; he strives in vain Their floods to centre and their lakes retain; His gulphs o'ercharged their opening sides display, And southern vales prolong the seaward way. Columbus traced, with swift exploring eye, The immense of waves that here exalted lie, The realms that mound the unmeasured magazine, The far blue main, the climes that stretch between. He saw Xaraya's diamond banks unfold, And Paraguay's deep channel paved with gold, Saw proud Potosi lift his glittering head, And pour down Plata thro his tinctured bed. Rich with the spoils of many a distant mine, In his broad silver sea their floods combine; Wide over earth his annual freshet strays, And highland drains with lowland drench repays; Her thirsty regions wait his glad return, And drink their future harvest from his urn.