Must I, then, yield to your request! Columbus, why disturb my rest!-- For this the ungrateful shall combine, And hard misfortune shall be thine;-- For this the base reward remains Of cold neglect and galling chains![B] In a poor solitude forgot, Reproach and want shall be the lot Of him that gives new worlds to Spain, And westward spreads her golden reign. Before you came to vex my bower I slept away the evening hour, Or watch'd the rising of the moon, With hissing vipers keeping tune, Or galloping along the glade Took pleasure in the lunar shade, And gather'd herbs, or made a prize Of horses' tails and adders' eyes: Now open flies the iron gate, Advance, and read the book of fate! On thy design what woes attend! The nations at the ocean's end, No longer destin'd to be free, Shall owe distress and death to thee! The seats of innocence and love Shall soon the scenes of horror prove: But why disturb these Indian climes, The pictures of more happy times! Has avarice, with unfeeling breast, Has cruelty thy soul possess'd? May ruin on thy boldness wait!-- Advance, and read the book of fate. When vulture, fed but once a week, And ravens three together shriek, And skeleton for vengeance cries, Then shall the fatal curtain rise! Two lamps in yonder vaulted room, Suspended o'er a brazen tomb, Shall lend their glimmerings, as you pass, To find your fortune in that glass Whose wondrous virtue is, to show Whate'er the inquirer wants to know. [B] In 1498 he was superseded in his command at Hispaniola and sent home in irons. Soon after finishing his fourth voyage, finding himself neglected by the Court of Spain after all his services, he retired to Valladolid, in Old Castile, where he died on the 20th of May. A. D. 1506.--_Freneau's note._ PICTURE III. The Mirror _Columbus_