Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1893-05-03
''THE PROPHECY"
Worlds Fair Dedication Poem, Written
by w. A. CrOffut.

by w. A. CrOffut.
Sadly Columbus watched the nascent moon
Drown in the gloomy oceans Western deeps.
Strange birds that day had futtered in the sails,
And strange flowers tloated round the wander
ing keel.
And yet no land and now when through the
dark
The Santa Maria leaped before the gale
And angry pillows tossed the caravels
AS to destruction, Gomez RaSCOn came
With Capt. Pinzon through the frenzied seas
And to the admiral brought parchment scroll,
Saying, Good Master, read this writing here,
An earnest prayer it is from all on board;
The crew would fain turn back in utter fear.
No longer to the pole the compass points;
Into the zenith climbs the Northern star;
You saw but yeSteT eve an albatrOsS
Drop dead on deck beneath the flying scud.
The devils wind blows madly from the east
Into the land Of nowhere, and the sea
Keeps sucking us adOwn the maelstrom's nav.
Francisco says the edge of earth is near
And off to Erebus we slide unhelmed.
Last Sunday night Diego saw a witch
Dragging the Nina by her fOrechains west
And wildly dancing on a DOlphin's back,
Slipped from its leash and sprang into the sea
Like Lucifer and left trail Of blood.
pray thee, Master, turn again to Spain, obedi-
ent to the OmenS, or perChance
The terror-stricken crew, to escape their doom,
May mutiny and -"
Gomez Rascon, peace"
Exclaimed the admiral "Thou hast said
enough.
Now prithee, leave me; would be alone"
Then eagerly Columbus sought q sign
In sea and sky and in his lonely heart
Finding, instead of pressages of hope
The black and ominOuS portents of dispair.
As thus he unused he paced the after deck
And gazed upon the luminous wave astern.
Strange LIE was III the phosphorescent foam,
And through the gobling low there came and
Like elfn shadows on an opal sea
Prophetic pictures Of the land he sought
He saw the end of his victorious quest,
He saw a5laze on Isabella's breast
string of Antillean jewels rest
The islands of the West.
He saw invading plenty dispoSsesS
Old poverty, the land with bounty bless
And through the wretched caverns of distress
Walk stareyed happiness.
He saw the Bourbon and Braganza prone
For ancient error tardy to atone,
Giving the plundcred people back their own
And flying from the throne
He saw an empire radiant as the day,
Harnessed to law but under freedoms sway,
Proudly arise, Respondent in array,
To show the world the way.
He saw celestial peace in mortal guise,
And filled with hope and thrilled with high EN-.
prise,
Lifting its tranquil forehead to the skies,
A vast republic rise.
He saw, beyond the hills of golden corn,
Beyond the curve of autumn's Opulent horn.
Ceres and Flora laughingly adOrn
The bosom Of the morn.
He saw cloth of gold across the gloom,
An ArabesQue from evolutOns, loom
And from the barren prairies driven spL1ne
Imperial cities bloom.
He saw al iron dragon dashing forth
Along an iron thOrOughfare-South North
East, West-uniting in benefcent girth
Remotest ends Of earth.
He saw the lightning run an elfn race
Where trade, love, grief and pleasure interlace,
And absent ones annihilate time and space,
COmmuning face to face.
Foes turned to brothers, black despair to hope,
And cannon rust upon the grass-gr0Wn slope,
And rot the galloWs rope.
He saw the babes on Labors cottage floor,
The bright walls hung with luxury more and
more,
And comfort, radiant with Astounding store,
Wave welcome at the door.
He saw the myriad spindles futter round,
The myriad millWheelS shake the solid ground,
The myriad homes where jocund Joy is found
And love is throned and crowned;
He saw exalted ignorance under ban
Though panoplied in force since time began;
And science, consecrated lead the van,
The Providence of man.
The picture came and paled and passed away
And then he said to P1nZOn in the gloom:
"NOW, Martin, to thy waiting helm again
Haste to the Pinta; westward keep her prov
For have had a vision full of light.
Keep her PROV westward in the sunsets wake,
From this hour hence and let no man look
back