The Columbiad by Joel Barlow
page 32 of 390 (08%)
page 32 of 390 (08%)
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Repaid his toils and sooth'd his soul to rest;
Thus o'er thy subject wave shalt thou behold Far happier realms their future charms unfold, In nobler pomp another Pisgah rise, Beneath whose foot thy new found Canaan lies; There, rapt in vision, hail my favorite clime, And taste the blessings of remotest time. So Hesper spoke; Columbus raised his head; His chains dropt off; the cave, the castle fled. Forth walked the Pair; when steep before them stood; Slope from the town, a heaven-illumined road; That thro disparting shades arose on high, Reach'd o'er the hills, and lengthen'd up the sky, Show'd a clear summit, rich with rising flowers, That breathe their odors thro celestial bowers. O'er the proud Pyrenees it looks sublime, Subjects the Alps, and levels Europe's clime; Spain, lessening to a chart, beneath it swims, And shrouds her dungeons in the void she dims. Led by the Power, the Hero gain'd the height, New strength and brilliance flush'd his mortal sight; When calm before them flow'd the western main, Far stretch'd, immense, a sky-encircled plain. No sail, no isle, no cloud invests the bound, Nor billowy surge disturbs the vast profound; Till, deep in distant heavens, the sun's blue ray Topt unknown cliffs and call'd them up to day; Slow glimmering into sight wide regions drew, |
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