The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1916-10-12
COLUMBUS.

When God in bounty gave this earth TO man,
With all its priceless treasures blessed
1t part of His eternal plan
That they should be an endless quest
He spread His lands beneath the distant skie
And pours His round them all
Till ev'ry lard, a lost atlantis lies
Beyond the depths where dread horizons fall
| He gave no chart or sail for all His seas,
No guide to treasures of His lands
But bound them all in fearful mysteries.
Yet left the key in human hands.
From land to land through ages of the past.
Through desert sand and trackless wood.
The pioneer did press until at last
/ The ocean in his pathway stood.
The feeble eye could see the vast expanse
Horizons bent to waters blue,
The endless pillows in an endless dance
That stretched to shores that no one knew.
The wonders of the deep appalled, the soul
The strength of distance storm and tide,
Defied the puny craft of mans control
And Knocked and bafhed all his pride.
Along those pathways of the mighty deep
The stars had never seen a sail
Alone, the thunder broke the monsters sleep
When DER the waters swept the gale.
OF all the generations who would dare
To seek the course of setting sun
And lay the mysteries and wonders bare
That baffed hope since time begun?
Yes, who? How long before the answer comes
What noble heart will say. Il dare?
How long will man keep building little Romes
When larger worlds might be his share?
What pittance of border wars expense
Could spread the sail and lay the keel
To solve the age-long problem of suspense.
And break the bonds of Natures seal
At last, beneath the humble cotter's roof.
Endowed with innate strength and worth
Was born the soul that dared the toll of proof,
To solve the riddle of the earth,
He pushed his prov into an unknown sea
Until the needle lost Its star
And fearful mysteries that had key
Spread DER the waste that had no bar.
With unfamiliar stars the skies were sown
As from the ancient shore he drifted
Into realm where sails had never flown,
Where neither isle nor headland lifted.
All hearts are faint, all minds are filled with
fear.
Lest legends of the sea be true
That monsters Of the ocean would appear
To swallow up the ship and crew
What anxious hours, what vigils of the night,
What search of sea and sky for sign
That their frail caravels were steering right,
To prove the plan of Gods design2
A floating weed, drifting piece of wood,
The flight Of birds that haunt the land.
The golden mist that round the horizon stood
Were tokens Of the longed-for strand.
At last ray of light shone through the dark
The watchers whispered, did you see 2"
And eagerly they gazed and watched the spark
That flashed across the midnight sea.
It disappeared Was il the witches light!
Who kindled it? What did it mean7
Would morning bring a continent in sight
Along the pathway of its sheen7
What moments make our fate The coming
morn
Might change the course Of destiny;
No land, and fears Of dangers to be bourne
Might lift the hand of mutiny.
The Admiral alone possessed the faith
That kept the rudder to the west.
n spite of doubt or dread water wrath
He bore the burden OF his quest.
Beyond the vail where sky to water dips
He saw the shores Of old Cathay,
t. spicy harbors, filed with men and ships
That crossed the world by the western way. |
lie saw the shores of old Jerusalem
Whose streets the paadns had trod.
He'd arm a host and wear a dadem
As victor at the tomb of God.
I was his dream but what dream It was
1t lured him onward 10 his goal,
md proved the truth of everlasting laws
That rule the earth from pole to pole.
When on the distant island shore
Columbus knelt with humble pride
And kissed the sands of Salvador.
John W. Gordon.