THE BOY COLUMBUS

And he had mused on lands each bird,—

That winged from realms of Falerina,

O'er seas of the Enchanted Sword,—

In romance sang him, till he heard

Vague foam on Islands of Alcina.

For rich Levant and old Castile

Let other seamen freight their galleys;

With Polo he and Mandeville

Through stranger seas a dreamy keel

Sailed into wonder-peopled valleys.

Far continents of flow'r and fruit,

Of everlasting spring; where fountains

‘ Mid flow'rs, with human faces, shoot;

Where races dwell, both man and brute,

In cities under golden mountains.

Where cataracts their thunders hurl

From heights the tempest has at mercy;

Vast peaks that touch the moon, and whirl

Their torrents down of gold and pearl;

And forests strange as those of Circe.

Let rapiered Love lute, in the shade

Of royal gardens, to the Palace

And Court, that haunt the balustrade

Of terraces and still parade

Their vanity and guile and malice.

Him something calls diviner yet

Than Love, more mighty than a lover;

Heroic Truth that will not let

Deed lag; a purpose, westward set,

In eyes far-seeing to discover.