Poems: Old and New

by Frederick George Scott

 

COLUMBUS.

 
HE caught the words which ocean thunders hurled
   On heedless eastern coasts in days gone by,
   And to his dreams the ever-westering sky
The ensign of a glorious hope unfurled;
So, onward to the line of mists which curled
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   Around the setting sun, with steadfast eye,
   He pushed his course, and, trusting God on high,
Threw wide the portals of a larger world.

The heart that watched through those drear autumn nights
   The wide, dark sea, and man’s new empire sought,
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      Alone, uncheered, hath wrought a deed sublime,
Which, like a star behind the polar lights,
   Will shine through splendours of man’s utmost thought
      Down golden eras to the end of time. [Page 146]