Opening…

Introduction

The poetry relating to American history falls naturally into two classes: that written, so to speak, from the inside, on the spot, and that written from the outside, long afterwards. Of the first class, "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the most famous example, as well as perhaps the best. Even at this distant day, reading it with a knowledge of the circumstances which produced it, it has a power of touching the heart and gripping the imagination which goes far toward proving the genuineness of its art. Of the second class, "Paul Revere's Ride" is probably the most widely known, though Mr. Longfellow's own "Ballad of the French Fleet" is a better poem.

It is evident that, in compiling an anthology such as this, different standards must be used in judging these two classes. The first, aside from any quality as poetry which it may have, is of value because of its historical or political interest, because it is an expression and an interpretation of the hour which gave it birth. With it, poetic merit is not the first consideration, which is, perhaps, as well. Yet, however slight their merit as poetry may be, many of the early ballads possess an admirable energy, directness, and aptness of phrase, and there is about them a childlike simplicity impossible of reproduction in this sophisticated age--as where Stephen Tilden, in his epitaph on Braddock, requests the great commanders who have preceded that unfortunate soldier to the grave to

"Edge close and give him room."

With the retrospective ballad, on the other hand, poetic merit is a sine qua non. It has little value historically, however accurate its facts. It differs from the contemporary ballad in the same way that the "New Canterbury Tales" differ from Froissart; or as the "Idylls of the King" differ from "Le Morte Arthur." It is less authentic, less convincing, less vital. It may have atmosphere, but there is no infallible way of telling whether the atmosphere is right. Unless it is something more, then, than mere metrical history, the modern ballad has little claim to consideration.

These are the two principles which the present compiler has had constantly in mind. Yet the second principle has been violated more than once, since, in a collection such as this, one must cut one's coat according to the cloth; or, rather, one must make sure that one is decently covered, though the covering may here and there be somewhat inferior in quality. So it has been necessary, in order to keep the thread of history unbroken, to admit some strands anything but silken; and if the choice has sometimes been of ills, rather than of goods, the compiler can only hope that he chose wisely.

The most difficult and trying portion of his task has been, not to get his material together, but to compress it into reasonable limits. Especially in the colonial period was the temptation great to include more early American verse. Peter Folger's "A Looking-Glass for the Times," Benjamin Tompson's "New England's Crisis," Michael Wigglesworth's "God's Controversy with New England," the "Sot-Weed Factor," and many others, which it is recalling an old sorrow to name here, were excluded only after long and bitter debate. No doubt other exclusions will be noticed by nearly every reader of the volume--and it may interest him to know that the material gathered together would have made four such books as this.

The thread of narrative upon which the poems have been strung together has been made as slight as possible, just strong enough to carry the reader understandingly from one poem to the next. The notes, too, have been limited to the explanation of such allusions as are not likely to be found in the ordinary works of reference, with here and there an account of the circumstances which caused the lines to be written, or an indication of source, where the source is unusual. Every available source has been drawn upon--the works of all the better known and many of the minor American and English poets, anthologies, newspaper collections, magazines, collections of Americana and especially of broadsides--in a word, American and English poetry generally.

In this connection, the compiler wishes to make grateful acknowledgment of the assistance he has received on every hand, especially from Mr. Herbert Putnam and Miss Margaret McGuffey, of the Library of Congress; Mr. N. D. C. Hodges, librarian of the Cincinnati, Ohio, Public Library; Mr. C. B. Galbreath, librarian of the Ohio State Library; Mr. Charles F. Lummis, librarian of the Los Angeles, California, Public Library; Dr. Edward Everett Hale, Mr. William Henry Venable, Mr. Isaac R. Pennypacker, Mr. Arthur Guiterman, and Mr. Wallace Rice. He might add that it is a matter of deep personal gratification to him that in no instance has any author refused to permit the use of his work in this collection. On the contrary, many of them have been most helpful in suggestions.

A special effort has been made to secure accuracy of text,--no light task, especially with the early ballads. Where the text varied, as was often the case, that has been followed which seemed to have the greater authority, except that obvious misprints have been corrected. In this, the compiler has had the coöperation of The Riverside Press, and has had frequent occasion to admire the care and knowledge of the corrector and his assistants.

B. E. S.

CHILLICOTHE, OHIO, July 23, 1908.

I. THE COLONIAL PERIOD

AMERICA, Arthur Cleveland Coxe 2

Chapter I

The Discovery of America

THE STORY OF VINLAND, Sidney Lanier 3 THE NORSEMEN, John Greenleaf Whittier 4 THE SKELETON IN ARMOR, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 6 PROPHECY, Luigi Pulci 7 THE INSPIRATION, James Montgomery 8 COLUMBUS, Lydia Huntley Sigourney 9 COLUMBUS TO FERDINAND, Philip Freneau 9 COLUMBUS AT THE CONVENT, John T. Trowbridge 10 THE FINAL STRUGGLE, Louis James Block 11 STEER, BOLD MARINER, ON, Friedrich von Schiller 12 THE TRIUMPH, Sidney Lanier 12 COLUMBUS, Joaquin Miller 14 THE THANKSGIVING FOR AMERICA, Hezekiah Butterworth 15 COLUMBUS IN CHAINS, Philip Freneau 17 COLUMBUS DYING, Edna Dean Proctor 18 COLUMBUS, Edward Everett Hale 18 COLUMBUS AND THE MAYFLOWER, Lord Houghton 18

Chapter II

In the Wake of Columbus

THE FIRST VOYAGE OF JOHN CABOT, Unknown 19 THE LEGEND OF WAUKULLA, Hezekiah Butterworth 19 THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH, Hezekiah Butterworth 21 PONCE DE LEON, Edith M. Thomas 22 BALBOA, Nora Perry 23 WITH CORTEZ IN MEXICO, W. W. Campbell 24 THE LUST OF GOLD, James Montgomery 24 VERAZZANO, Hezekiah Butterworth 25 ORTIZ, Hezekiah Butterworth 26 THE FALL OF MAUBILA, Thomas Dunn English 27 QUIVÍRA, Arthur Guiterman 31 NOREMBEGA, John Greenleaf Whittier 32 SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 34 THE FIRST AMERICAN SAILORS, Wallace Rice 34

Chapter III

The Settlement of Virginia

THE MYSTERY OF CRO-A-TÀN, Margaret Junkin Preston 36 JOHN SMITH'S APPROACH TO JAMESTOWN, James Barron Hope 38 POCAHONTAS, William Makepeace Thackeray 38 POCAHONTAS, George Pope Morris 39 BERMUDAS, Andrew Marvell 39 NEWES FROM VIRGINIA, Richard Rich 40 TO THE VIRGINIAN VOYAGE, Michael Drayton 42 THE MARRIAGE OF POCAHONTAS, Mrs. M. M. Webster 43 THE LAST MEETING OF POCAHONTAS AND THE GREAT CAPTAIN, Margaret Junkin Preston 43 THE BURNING OF JAMESTOWN, Thomas Dunn English 44 BACON'S EPITAPH, Unknown 45 ODE TO JAMESTOWN, James Kirke Paulding 46 THE DOWNFALL OF PIRACY, Benjamin Franklin 48 FROM POTOMAC TO MERRIMAC, Edward Everett Hale 49

Chapter IV

The Dutch at New Amsterdam

HENRY HUDSON'S QUEST, Burton Egbert Stevenson 50 THE DEATH OF COLMAN, Thomas Frost 50 ADRIAN BLOCK'S SONG, Edward Everett Hale 51 THE PRAISE OF NEW NETHERLAND, Jacob Steendam 52 THE COMPLAINT OF NEW AMSTERDAM, Jacob Steendam 53 PETER STUYVESANT'S NEW YEAR'S CALL, Edmund Clarence Stedman 54

Chapter V

The Settlement of New England

THE WORD OF GOD TO LEYDEN CAME, Jeremiah Eames Rankin 56 SONG OF THE PILGRIMS, Thomas Cogswell Upham 57 LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS, Felicia Hemans 57 THE FIRST PROCLAMATION OF MILES STANDISH, Margaret Junkin Preston 58 THE MAYFLOWER, Erastus Wolcott Ellsworth 59 THE PEACE MESSAGE, Burton Egbert Stevenson 60 THE FIRST THANKSGIVING DAY, Margaret Junkin Preston 60 THE WAR-TOKEN, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 61 FIVE KERNELS OF CORN, Hezekiah Butterworth 62 THE EXPEDITION TO WESSAGUSSET, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 63 NEW ENGLAND'S ANNOYANCES, Unknown 65 THE PILGRIM FATHERS, William Wordsworth 66 THE PILGRIM FATHERS, John Pierpont 66 THE THANKSGIVING IN BOSTON HARBOR, Hezekiah Butterworth 67 THE FIRST THANKSGIVING, Clinton Scollard 68 NEW ENGLAND'S GROWTH, William Bradford 69 THE ASSAULT ON THE FORTRESS, Timothy Dwight 70 DEATH SONG, Alonzo Lewis 70 OUR COUNTRY, Julia Ward Howe 71

Chapter VI

Religious Persecutions in New England

PROLOGUE, from "John Endicott," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 71 ROGER WILLIAMS, Hezekiah Butterworth 72 GOD MAKES A PATH, Roger Williams 72 CANONICUS AND ROGER WILLIAMS, Unknown 73 ANNE HUTCHINSON'S EXILE, Edward Everett Hale 73 JOHN UNDERHILL, John Greenleaf Whittier 74 THE PROCLAMATION, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 76 CASSANDRA SOUTHWICK, John Greenleaf Whittier 77 THE KING'S MISSIVE, John Greenleaf Whittier 80

Chapter VII

King Philip's War and the Witchcraft Delusion

THE LAMENTABLE BALLAD OF THE BLOODY BROOK, Edward Everett Hale 82 THE GREAT SWAMP FIGHT, Caroline Hazard 83 ON A FORTIFICATION AT BOSTON BEGUN BY WOMEN, Benjamin Tompson 85 THE SUDBURY FIGHT, Wallace Rice 85 KING PHILIP'S LAST STAND, Clinton Scollard 88 PROLOGUE, from "Giles Corey of the Salem Farms," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 88 SALEM, Edmund Clarence Stedman 89 THE DEATH OF GOODY NURSE, Rose Terry Cooke 90 A SALEM WITCH, Ednah Proctor Clarke 91 THE TRIAL, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 92 GILES COREY, Unknown 96 MISTRESS HALE OF BEVERLY, Lucy Larcom 97

Chapter VIII

The Struggle for the Continent

ST. JOHN, John Greenleaf Whittier 99 THE BATTLE OF LA PRAIRIE, William Douw Schuyler-Lighthall 101 THE SACK OF DEERFIELD, Thomas Dunn English 102 PENTUCKET, John Greenleaf Whittier 105 LOVEWELL'S FIGHT, Unknown 106 LOVEWELL'S FIGHT, Unknown 108 THE BATTLE OF LOVELL'S POND, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 109 LOUISBURG, Unknown 110 A BALLAD OF THE FRENCH FLEET, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 110 THE BRITISH LYON ROUSED, Stephen Tilden 111 THE SONG OF BRADDOCK'S MEN, Unknown 112 BRADDOCK'S FATE, Stephen Tilden 112 NED BRADDOCK, John Williamson Palmer 114 ODE TO THE INHABITANTS OF PENNSYLVANIA, Unknown 114 THE EMBARKATION, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 115 ON THE DEFEAT AT TICONDEROGA OR CARILONG, Unknown 117 ON THE LATE SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION AGAINST LOUISBOURG, Francis Hopkinson 118 FORT DUQUESNE, Florus B. Plimpton 119 HOT STUFF, Edward Botwood 121 HOW STANDS THE GLASS AROUND, James Wolfe 121 BRAVE WOLFE, Unknown 122 THE DEATH OF WOLFE, Unknown 123 THE CAPTIVE'S HYMN, Edna Dean Proctor 123 A PROPHECY, Arthur Lee 125

II. THE REVOLUTION

FLAWLESS HIS HEART, James Russell Lowell 128

Chapter I

The Coming of Discontent

THE VIRGINIA SONG, Unknown 129 THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN, Unknown 130 A SONG, Unknown 130 THE LIBERTY POLE, Unknown 131 THE BRITISH GRENADIER, Unknown 132 CRISPUS ATTUCKS, John Boyle O'Reilly 132 UNHAPPY BOSTON, Paul Revere 134 ALAMANCE, Seymour W. Whiting 135 A NEW SONG CALLED THE GASPEE, Unknown 135 A BALLAD OF THE BOSTON TEA-PARTY, Oliver Wendell Holmes 136 A NEW SONG, Unknown 137 HOW WE BECAME A NATION, Harriet Prescott Spofford 138 A PROCLAMATION, Unknown 138 THE BLASTED HERB, Mesech Weare 139 EPIGRAM, Unknown 140 THE DAUGHTER'S REBELLION, Francis Hopkinson 140 ON THE SNAKE DEPICTED AT THE HEAD OF SOME AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS, Unknown 140 FREE AMERICA, Joseph Warren 140 LIBERTY TREE, Thomas Paine 141 THE MOTHER COUNTRY, Benjamin Franklin 142 PENNSYLVANIA SONG, Unknown 142 MARYLAND RESOLVES, Unknown 142 MASSACHUSETTS SONG OF LIBERTY, Mercy Warren 143 EPIGRAM, Unknown 144 TO THE BOSTON WOMEN, Unknown 144 PROPHECY, Gulian Verplanck 144

Chapter II

The Bursting of the Storm

PAUL REVERE'S RIDE, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 144 WHAT'S IN A NAME, Helen F. More 146 LEXINGTON, Sidney Lanier 146 LEXINGTON, Oliver Wendell Holmes 147 NEW ENGLAND'S CHEVY CHASE, Edward Everett Hale 148 THE KING'S OWN REGULARS, Unknown 150 MORGAN STANWOOD, Hiram Rich 151 THE MINUTE-MEN OF NORTHBORO, Wallace Rice 152 LEXINGTON, John Greenleaf Whittier 153 THE RISING, Thomas Buchanan Read 154 THE PRIZE OF THE MARGARETTA, Will Carleton 155 THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION, William C. Elam 156 A SONG, Unknown 157

Chapter III

The Colonists take the Offensive

THE GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS, William Cullen Bryant 157 THE SURPRISE AT TICONDEROGA, Mary A. P. Stansbury 157 THE YANKEE'S RETURN FROM CAMP, Edward Bangs 159 TOM GAGE'S PROCLAMATION, Unknown 160 THE EVE OF BUNKER HILL, Clinton Scollard 161 WARREN'S ADDRESS TO THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS, John Pierpont 161 THE BALLAD OF BUNKER HILL, Edward Everett Hale 162 BUNKER HILL, George H. Calvert 162 GRANDMOTHER'S STORY OF BUNKER-HILL BATTLE, Oliver Wendell Holmes 163 THE DEATH OF WARREN, Epes Sargent 166 THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL, Unknown 167 THE NEW-COME CHIEF, James Russell Lowell 168 THE TRIP TO CAMBRIDGE, Unknown 169 WAR AND WASHINGTON, Jonathan Mitchell Sewall 170 THE BOMBARDMENT OF BRISTOL, Unknown 171 MONTGOMERY AT QUEBEC, Clinton Scollard 171 A SONG, Unknown 172 A POEM CONTAINING SOME REMARKS ON THE PRESENT WAR, Unknown 173 MUGFORD'S VICTORY, John White Chadwick 174 OFF FROM BOSTON, Unknown 176

Chapter IV

Independence

EMANCIPATION FROM BRITISH DEPENDENCE, Philip Freneau 176 RODNEY'S RIDE, Unknown 177 AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, Francis Hopkinson 178 THE FOURTH OF JULY, John Pierpont 179 INDEPENDENCE DAY, Royall Tyler 179 ON INDEPENDENCE, Jonathan Mitchell Sewall 179 THE AMERICAN PATRIOT'S PRAYER, Unknown 180 COLUMBIA, Timothy Dwight 180

Chapter V

The First Campaign

THE BOASTING OF SIR PETER PARKER, Clinton Scollard 181 A NEW WAR SONG BY SIR PETER PARKER, Unknown 182 THE MARYLAND BATTALION, John Williamson Palmer 183 HAARLEM HEIGHTS, Arthur Guiterman 183 NATHAN HALE, Unknown 185 NATHAN HALE, Francis Miles Finch 186 THE BALLAD OF SWEET P, Virginia Woodward Cloud 186 ACROSS THE DELAWARE, Will Carleton 188 THE BATTLE OF TRENTON, Unknown 188 TRENTON AND PRINCETON, Unknown 188 ASSUNPINK AND PRINCETON, Thomas Dunn English 189 SEVENTY-SIX, William Cullen Bryant 191 BETSY'S BATTLE FLAG, Minna Irving 191 THE AMERICAN FLAG, Joseph Rodman Drake 192

Chapter VI

"The Fate of Sir Jack Brag"

THE RIFLEMAN'S SONG AT BENNINGTON, Unknown 193 THE MARCHING SONG OF STARK'S MEN, Edward Everett Hale 193 PARSON ALLEN'S RIDE, Wallace Bruce 194 THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON, Thomas P. Rodman 195 BENNINGTON, W. H. Babcock 196 THE BATTLE OF ORISKANY, Charles D. Helmer 198 SAINT LEGER, Clinton Scollard 199 THE PROGRESS OF SIR JACK BRAG, Unknown 200 ARNOLD AT STILLWATER, Thomas Dunn English 200 THE FATE OF JOHN BURGOYNE, Unknown 202 SARATOGA'S SONG, Unknown 202

Chapter VII

The Second Stage

LORD NORTH'S RECANTATION, Unknown 204 A NEW BALLAD, Unknown 205 GENERAL HOWE'S LETTER, Unknown 205 CARMEN BELLICOSUM, Guy Humphreys McMaster 206 VALLEY FORGE, Thomas Buchanan Read 207 BRITISH VALOR DISPLAYED; OR, THE BATTLE OF THE KEGS, Francis Hopkinson 208 THE LITTLE BLACK-EYED REBEL, Will Carleton 209 THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH, Unknown 210 THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH, Thomas Dunn English 211 MOLLY PITCHER, Kate Brownlee Sherwood 213 MOLLY PITCHER, Laura E. Richards 213 YANKEE DOODLE'S EXPEDITION TO RHODE ISLAND, Unknown 214 RUNNING THE BLOCKADE, Nora Perry 215 BETTY ZANE, Thomas Dunn English 216 THE WYOMING MASSACRE, Uriah Terry 217

Chapter VIII

The War on the Water

THE CRUISE OF THE FAIR AMERICAN, Unknown 219 ON THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN NICHOLAS BIDDLE, Philip Freneau 220 THE YANKEE PRIVATEER, Arthur Hale 221 PAUL JONES, Unknown 222 THE YANKEE MAN-OF-WAR, Unknown 223 PAUL JONES--A NEW SONG, Unknown 224 PAUL JONES, Unknown 224 THE BONHOMME RICHARD AND SERAPIS, Philip Freneau 225 BARNEY'S INVITATION, Philip Freneau 226 SONG ON CAPTAIN BARNEY'S VICTORY, Philip Freneau 227 THE SOUTH CAROLINA, Unknown 228

Chapter IX

New York and the "Neutral Ground"

SIR HENRY CLINTON'S INVITATION TO THE REFUGEES, Philip Freneau 229 THE STORM OF STONY POINT, Arthur Guiterman 230 WAYNE AT STONY POINT, Clinton Scollard 230 AARON BURR'S WOOING, Edmund Clarence Stedman 231 THE MODERN JONAS, Unknown 232 CALDWELL OF SPRINGFIELD, Bret Harte 232 THE COW-CHACE, John André 233 BRAVE PAULDING AND THE SPY, Unknown 237 ARNOLD THE VILE TRAITOR, Unknown 238 EPIGRAM, Unknown 238 ANDRÉ'S REQUEST TO WASHINGTON, Nathaniel Parker Willis 238 ANDRÉ, Charlotte Fiske Bates 239 SERGEANT CHAMPE, Unknown 239 A NEW SONG, Joseph Stansbury 240 THE LORDS OF THE MAIN, Joseph Stansbury 241 THE ROYAL ADVENTURER, Philip Freneau 241 THE DESCENT ON MIDDLESEX, Peter St. John 242

Chapter X

The War in the South

HYMNS OF THE MORAVIAN NUNS OF BETHLEHEM, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 245 ABOUT SAVANNAH, Unknown 245 A SONG ABOUT CHARLESTON, Unknown 246 THE SWAMP FOX, William Gilmore Simms 247 SONG OF MARION'S MEN, William Cullen Bryant 248 MACDONALD'S RAID, Paul Hamilton Hayne 248 SUMTER'S BAND, J. W. Simmons 250 THE BATTLE OF KING'S MOUNTAIN, Unknown 251 THE BATTLE OF THE COWPENS, Thomas Dunn English 252 THE BATTLE OF EUTAW, William Gilmore Simms 254 EUTAW SPRINGS, Philip Freneau 255 THE DANCE, Unknown 256 CORNWALLIS'S SURRENDER, Unknown 256 THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS, Unknown 257 NEWS FROM YORKTOWN, Lewis Worthington Smith 257 AN ANCIENT PROPHECY, Philip Freneau 258

Chapter XI

Peace

ON SIR HENRY CLINTON'S RECALL, Unknown 259 ON THE DEPARTURE OF THE BRITISH FROM CHARLESTON, Philip Freneau 260 ON THE BRITISH KING'S SPEECH, Philip Freneau 261 ENGLAND AND AMERICA IN 1782, Alfred Tennyson 262 ON DISBANDING THE ARMY, David Humphreys 262 EVACUATION OF NEW YORK BY THE BRITISH, Unknown 262 OCCASIONED BY GENERAL WASHINGTON'S ARRIVAL IN PHILADELPHIA, ON HIS WAY TO HIS RESIDENCE IN VIRGINIA, Philip Freneau 263 THE AMERICAN SOLDIER'S HYMN, Unknown 264 THANKSGIVING HYMN, Unknown 264 LAND OF THE WILFUL GOSPEL, Sidney Lanier 265

III. THE PERIOD OF GROWTH

"OH MOTHER OF A MIGHTY RACE," William Cullen Bryant 268

Chapter I

The New Nation

A RADICAL SONG OF 1786, St. John Honeywood 269 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION, Unknown 269 TO THE FEDERAL CONVENTION, Timothy Dwight 270 THE NEW ROOF, Francis Hopkinson 270 CONVENTION SONG, Unknown 271 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION, William Milns 272 THE FIRST AMERICAN CONGRESS, Joel Barlow 273 WASHINGTON, James Jeffrey Roche 274 THE VOW OF WASHINGTON, John Greenleaf Whittier 274 ON THE DEATH OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Philip Freneau 275 GEORGE WASHINGTON, John Hall Ingham 275 WASHINGTON, Lord Byron 276 ADAMS AND LIBERTY, Robert Treat Paine 276 HAIL COLUMBIA, Joseph Hopkinson 277 YE SONS OF COLUMBIA, Thomas Green Fessenden 278 TRUXTON'S VICTORY, Unknown 279 THE CONSTELLATION AND THE INSURGENTE, Unknown 280 WASHINGTON'S MONUMENT, Unknown 280 HOW WE BURNED THE PHILADELPHIA, Barrett Eastman 281 REUBEN JAMES, James Jeffrey Roche 282 SKIPPER IRESON'S RIDE, John Greenleaf Whittier 283 A PLEA FOR FLOOD IRESON, Charles Timothy Brooks 284

Chapter II

The Second War with England

THE TIMES, Unknown 285 REPARATION OR WAR, Unknown 286 TERRAPIN WAR, Unknown 286 FAREWELL, PEACE, Unknown 287 COME, YE LADS, WHO WISH TO SHINE, Unknown 287 HULL'S SURRENDER, Unknown 287 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE GUERRIÈRE, Unknown 288 HALIFAX STATION, Unknown 289 ON THE CAPTURE OF THE GUERRIÈRE, Philip Freneau 290 FIRSTFRUITS IN 1812, Wallace Rice 291 THE BATTLE OF QUEENSTOWN, William Banker, Jr. 292 THE WASP'S FROLIC, Unknown 293 THE UNITED STATES AND MACEDONIAN, Unknown 293 THE UNITED STATES AND MACEDONIAN, Unknown 294 JACK CREAMER, James Jeffrey Roche 295 YANKEE THUNDERS, Unknown 296 THE GENERAL ARMSTRONG, Unknown 296 CAPTURE OF LITTLE YORK, Unknown 298 THE DEATH OF GENERAL PIKE, Laughton Osborn 299 OLD FORT MEIGS, Unknown 300 THE SHANNON AND THE CHESAPEAKE, Thomas Tracy Bouvé 300 CHESAPEAKE AND SHANNON, Unknown 301 DEFEAT AND VICTORY, Wallace Rice 302 ENTERPRISE AND BOXER, Unknown 302 PERRY'S VICTORY, Unknown 303 THE BATTLE OF ERIE, Unknown 303 PERRY'S VICTORY--A SONG, Unknown 305 THE FALL OF TECUMSEH, Unknown 305 THE LEGEND OF WALBACH TOWER, George Houghton 306 THE BATTLE OF VALPARAISO, Unknown 307 THE BATTLE OF BRIDGEWATER, Unknown 308 THE HERO OF BRIDGEWATER, Charles L. S. Jones 309 THE BATTLE OF STONINGTON, Philip Freneau 309 THE OCEAN-FIGHT, Unknown 310 THE LOST WAR-SLOOP, Edna Dean Proctor 311 ON THE BRITISH INVASION, Philip Freneau 312 THE BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN, Philip Freneau 312 THE BATTLE OF PLATTSBURG BAY, Clinton Scollard 313 THE BATTLE OF PLATTSBURG, Unknown 314 THE BATTLE OF BALTIMORE, Unknown 315 FORT MCHENRY, Unknown 316 THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER, Francis Scott Key 317 YE PARLIAMENT OF ENGLAND, Unknown 318 THE BOWER OF PEACE, Robert Southey 318 REID AT FAYAL, John Williamson Palmer 319 THE FIGHT OF THE ARMSTRONG PRIVATEER, James Jeffrey Roche 319 THE ARMSTRONG AT FAYAL, Wallace Rice 321 FORT BOWYER, Charles L. S. Jones 323 THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS, Thomas Dunn English 323 JACKSON AT NEW ORLEANS, Wallace Rice 325 TO THE DEFENDERS OF NEW ORLEANS, Joseph Rodman Drake 326 THE HUNTERS OF KENTUCKY, Unknown 326 THE CONSTITUTION'S LAST FIGHT, James Jeffrey Roche 327 SEA AND LAND VICTORIES, Unknown 328 ODE TO PEACE, Unknown 329

Chapter III

The West

THE SETTLER, Alfred B. Street 329 THE MOTHERS OF THE WEST, William Davis Gallagher 330 ON THE EMIGRATION TO AMERICA, Philip Freneau 331 JOHN FILSON, William Henry Venable 331 SAINCLAIRE'S DEFEAT, Unknown 332 JOHNNY APPLESEED, William Henry Venable 334 THE FOUNDERS OF OHIO, William Henry Venable 335 BLENNERHASSETT'S ISLAND, Thomas Buchanan Read 335 THE BATTLE OF MUSKINGUM, William Harrison Safford 337 TO AARON BURR, UNDER TRIAL FOR HIGH TREASON, Sarah Wentworth Morton 338 THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE, Unknown 339 THE TOMB OF THE BRAVE, Joseph Hutton 339 SA-CÁ-GA-WE-A, Edna Dean Proctor 340 ON THE DISCOVERIES OF CAPTAIN LEWIS, Joel Barlow 341 WHITMAN'S RIDE FOR OREGON, Hezekiah Butterworth 342 DISCOVERY OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY, Richard Edward White 343 JOHN CHARLES FRÉMONT, Charles F. Lummis 345 "THE DAYS OF 'FORTY-NINE," Unknown 345 THE OLD SANTA FÉ TRAIL, Richard Burton 346 CALIFORNIA, Lydia Huntley Sigourney 346

Chapter IV

Through Five Administrations

THEODOSIA BURR, John Williamson Palmer 346 ON THE DEATH OF COMMODORE OLIVER H. PERRY, John G. C. Brainard 347 ON THE DEATH OF JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE, Fitz-Greene Halleck 348 ON LAYING THE CORNER-STONE OF THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT, John Pierpont 348 LA FAYETTE, Dolly Madison 349 THE DEATH OF JEFFERSON, Hezekiah Butterworth 349 OLD IRONSIDES, Oliver Wendell Holmes 351 CONCORD HYMN, Ralph Waldo Emerson 351 THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 351 OLD TIPPECANOE, Unknown 353 THE DEATH OF HARRISON, Nathaniel Parker Willis 353

Chapter V

The War with Mexico

THE VALOR OF BEN MILAM, Clinton Scollard 354 BEN MILAM, William H. Wharton 355 THE MEN OF THE ALAMO, James Jeffrey Roche 355 THE DEFENCE OF THE ALAMO, Joaquin Miller 357 THE FIGHT AT SAN JACINTO, John Williamson Palmer 357 SONG OF TEXAS, William Henry Cuyler Hosmer 358 TEXAS, John Greenleaf Whittier 358 MR. HOSEA BIGLOW SPEAKS, James Russell Lowell 360 THE GUNS IN THE GRASS, Thomas Frost 361 RIO BRAVO--A MEXICAN LAMENT, Charles Fenno Hoffman 362 TO ARMS, Park Benjamin 363 MONTEREY, Charles Fenno Hoffman 363 VICTOR GALBRAITH, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 364 BUENA VISTA, Albert Pike 364 THE ANGELS OF BUENA VISTA, John Greenleaf Whittier 366 THE BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD, Theodore O'Hara 368 WHAT MR. ROBINSON THINKS, James Russell Lowell 369 BATTLE OF THE KING'S MILL, Thomas Dunn English 370 THE SIEGE OF CHAPULTEPEC, William Haines Lytle 371 ILLUMINATION FOR VICTORIES IN MEXICO, Grace Greenwood 371 THE CRISIS, John Greenleaf Whittier 372 THE VOLUNTEERS, William Haines Lytle 374

Chapter VI

Fourteen Years of Peace

THE SHIP CANAL FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC, Francis Lieber 374 THE WAR SHIP OF PEACE, Samuel Lover 375 ON THE DEFEAT OF HENRY CLAY, William Wilberforce Lord 376 ON THE DEATH OF M. D'OSSOLI AND HIS WIFE, MARGARET FULLER, Walter Savage Landor 376 THE LAST APPENDIX TO "YANKEE DOODLE," Unknown 376 DANIEL WEBSTER, Oliver Wendell Holmes 377 THE FLAG, James Jeffrey Roche 378 KANE, Fitz-James O'Brien 379 HERNDON, S. Weir Mitchell 380 BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER, Wallace Rice 380 BARON RENFREW'S BALL, Charles Graham Halpine 382

IV. THE CIVIL WAR

BATTLE-HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC, Julia Ward Howe 384

Chapter I

The Slavery Question

TO WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, John Greenleaf Whittier 385 CLERICAL OPPRESSORS, John Greenleaf Whittier 385 THE DEBATE IN THE SENNIT, James Russell Lowell 386 ICHABOD, John Greenleaf Whittier 388 THE KIDNAPPING OF SIMS, John Pierpont 388 THE KANSAS EMIGRANTS, John Greenleaf Whittier 389 BURIAL OF BARBER, John Greenleaf Whittier 389 THE DEFENCE OF LAWRENCE, Richard Realf 390 THE FIGHT OVER THE BODY OF KEITT, Unknown 391 LE MARAIS DU CYGNE, John Greenleaf Whittier 392 HOW OLD BROWN TOOK HARPER'S FERRY, Edmund Clarence Stedman 393 THE BATTLE OF CHARLESTOWN, Henry Howard Brownell 395 BROWN OF OSSAWATOMIE, John Greenleaf Whittier 396 GLORY HALLELUJAH! OR JOHN BROWN'S BODY, Charles Sprague Hall 397 JOHN BROWN, Edna Dean Proctor 397 JOHN BROWN: A PARADOX, Louise Imogen Guiney 397 LECOMPTON'S BLACK BRIGADE, Charles Graham Halpine 398 LINCOLN, THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE, Edwin Markham 399 BROTHER JONATHAN'S LAMENT FOR SISTER CAROLINE, Oliver Wendell Holmes 400 JEFFERSON D., H. S. Cornwell 401 THE OLD COVE, Henry Howard Brownell 401 A SPOOL OF THREAD, Sophie E. Eastman 402 GOD SAVE OUR PRESIDENT, Francis DeHaes Janvier 403

Chapter II

The Gauntlet

BOB ANDERSON, MY BEAU, Unknown 403 ON FORT SUMTER, Unknown 403 SUMTER, Edmund Clarence Stedman 404 THE BATTLE OF MORRIS' ISLAND, Unknown 404 SUMTER--A BALLAD OF 1861, Unknown 405 THE FIGHT AT SUMTER, Unknown 407 SUMTER, Henry Howard Brownell 408 THE GREAT BELL ROLAND, Theodore Tilton 408 MEN OF THE NORTH AND WEST, Richard Henry Stoddard 409 OUT AND FIGHT, Charles Godfrey Leland 409 NO MORE WORDS, Franklin Lushington 410 OUR COUNTRY'S CALL, William Cullen Bryant 410 DIXIE, Albert Pike 411 A CRY TO ARMS, Henry Timrod 411 "WE CONQUER OR DIE," James Pierpont 412 "CALL ALL," Unknown 412 THE BONNIE BLUE FLAG, Annie Chambers Ketchum 413 I GIVE MY SOLDIER BOY A BLADE, Unknown 413

Chapter III

The North gets its Lesson

THE NINETEENTH OF APRIL, Lucy Larcom 414 THROUGH BALTIMORE, Bayard Taylor 414 MY MARYLAND, James Ryder Randall 415 ELLSWORTH, Unknown 416 COLONEL ELLSWORTH, Richard Henry Stoddard 416 ON THE DEATH OF "JACKSON," Unknown 417 THE VIRGINIANS OF THE VALLEY, Francis Orrery Ticknor 417 BETHEL, A. J. H. Duganne 417 DIRGE, Thomas William Parsons 419 WAIT FOR THE WAGON, Unknown 419 UPON THE HILL BEFORE CENTREVILLE, George Henry Boker 420 MANASSAS, Catherine M. Warfield 423 A BATTLE BALLAD, Francis Orrery Ticknor 424 THE RUN FROM MANASSAS JUNCTION, Unknown 425 ON TO RICHMOND, John R. Thompson 426 CAST DOWN, BUT NOT DESTROYED, Unknown 427 SHOP AND FREEDOM, Unknown 428 THE C. S. A. COMMISSIONERS, Unknown 428 DEATH OF THE LINCOLN DESPOTISM, Unknown 429 JONATHAN TO JOHN, James Russell Lowell 430 A NEW SONG TO AN OLD TUNE, Unknown 432

Chapter IV

The Grand Army of the Potomac

CIVIL WAR, Charles Dawson Shanly 432 THE PICKET-GUARD, Ethel Lynn Beers 433 TARDY GEORGE, Unknown 433 HOW MCCLELLAN TOOK MANASSAS, Unknown 434 WANTED--A MAN, Edmund Clarence Stedman 435 THE GALLANT FIGHTING "JOE," James Stevenson 436 KEARNY AT SEVEN PINES, Edmund Clarence Stedman 437 THE BURIAL OF LATANÉ, John R. Thompson 437 THE CHARGE BY THE FORD, Thomas Dunn English 438 DIRGE FOR ASHBY, Margaret Junkin Preston 439 MALVERN HILL, Herman Melville 439 A MESSAGE, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps 440 THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE, James Sloan Gibbons 440 CEDAR MOUNTAIN, Annie Fields 441 "OUR LEFT," Francis Orrery Ticknor 441 DIRGE FOR A SOLDIER, George Henry Boker 442 THE REVEILLE, Bret Harte 442 BEYOND THE POTOMAC, Paul Hamilton Hayne 443 BARBARA FRIETCHIE, John Greenleaf Whittier 444 MARTHY VIRGINIA'S HAND, George Parsons Lathrop 445 THE VICTOR OF ANTIETAM, Herman Melville 445 THE CROSSING AT FREDERICKSBURG, George Henry Boker 446 AT FREDERICKSBURG, John Boyle O'Reilly 447 FREDERICKSBURG, Thomas Bailey Aldrich 449 BY THE POTOMAC, Thomas Bailey Aldrich 449 THE WASHERS OF THE SHROUD, James Russell Lowell 450

Chapter V

The War in the West

THE LITTLE DRUMMER, Richard Henry Stoddard 451 THE DEATH OF LYON, Henry Peterson 453 ZAGONYI, George Henry Boker 453 BATTLE OF SOMERSET, Cornelius C. Cullen 454 ZOLLICOFFER, Henry Lynden Flash 454 BOY BRITTAN, Forceythe Willson 455 ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON, Kate Brownlee Sherwood 456 ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON, Francis Orrery Ticknor 457 BEAUREGARD, Mrs. C. A. Warfield 457 THE EAGLE OF CORINTH, Henry Howard Brownell 458 THE BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO, Kinahan Cornwallis 459 LITTLE GIFFEN, Francis Orrery Ticknor 460 THE BATTLE AUTUMN OF 1862, John Greenleaf Whittier 460

Chapter VI

The Coast and the River

AT PORT ROYAL, John Greenleaf Whittier 461 READY, Phoebe Cary 461 THE DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT, Clinton Scollard 462 THE TURTLE, Unknown 462 THE ATTACK, Thomas Buchanan Read 463 THE CUMBERLAND, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 464 ON BOARD THE CUMBERLAND, George Henry Boker 464 THE CUMBERLAND, Herman Melville 466 HOW THE CUMBERLAND WENT DOWN, S. Weir Mitchell 466 THE CRUISE OF THE MONITOR, George Henry Boker 467 THE SINKING OF THE MERRIMACK, Lucy Larcom 468 THE RIVER FIGHT, Henry Howard Brownell 468 THE BALLAD OF NEW ORLEANS, George Henry Boker 472 THE VARUNA, George Henry Boker 474 THE SURRENDER OF NEW ORLEANS, Marion Manville 475 MUMFORD, Ina M. Porter 476 BUTLER'S PROCLAMATION, Paul Hamilton Hayne 476

Chapter VII

Emancipation

TO JOHN C. FRÉMONT, John Greenleaf Whittier 477 ASTRÆA AT THE CAPITOL, John Greenleaf Whittier 478 BOSTON HYMN, Ralph Waldo Emerson 478 THE PROCLAMATION, John Greenleaf Whittier 480 TREASON'S LAST DEVICE, Edmund Clarence Stedman 480 LAUS DEO, John Greenleaf Whittier 481

Chapter VIII

The "Grand Army's" Second Campaign

MOSBY AT HAMILTON, Madison Cawein 482 JOHN PELHAM, James Ryder Randall 482 HOOKER'S ACROSS, George Henry Boker 483 STONEWALL JACKSON'S WAY, John Williamson Palmer 483 KEENAN'S CHARGE, George Parsons Lathrop 484 "THE BRIGADE MUST NOT KNOW, SIR," Unknown 485 STONEWALL JACKSON, Henry Lynden Flash 486 THE DYING WORDS OF STONEWALL JACKSON, Sidney Lanier 486 UNDER THE SHADE OF THE TREES, Margaret Junkin Preston 486 THE BALLAD OF ISHMAEL DAY, Unknown 487 RIDING WITH KILPATRICK, Clinton Scollard 488 GETTYSBURG, Edmund Clarence Stedman 489 THE HIGH TIDE AT GETTYSBURG, Will Henry Thompson 491 GETTYSBURG, James Jeffrey Roche 492 THE BATTLE-FIELD, Lloyd Mifflin 492 JOHN BURNS OF GETTYSBURG, Bret Harte 493 KENTUCKY BELLE, Constance Fenimore Woolson 494 THE DRAFT RIOT, Charles de Kay 496 LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG, Bayard Taylor 497

Chapter IX

With Grant on the Mississippi

RUNNING THE BATTERIES, Herman Melville 498 BEFORE VICKSBURG, George Henry Boker 499 VICKSBURG, Paul Hamilton Hayne 499 THE BATTLE-CRY OF FREEDOM, George Frederick Root 500 THE BLACK REGIMENT, George Henry Boker 500 THE BALLAD OF CHICKAMAUGA, Maurice Thompson 501 THOMAS AT CHICKAMAUGA, Kate Brownlee Sherwood 502 GARFIELD'S RIDE AT CHICKAMAUGA, Hezekiah Butterworth 503 THE BATTLE OF LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, George Henry Boker 505 THE BATTLE IN THE CLOUDS, William Dean Howells 506 CHARLESTON, Henry Timrod 507 THE BATTLE OF CHARLESTON HARBOR, Paul Hamilton Hayne 507 BURY THEM, Henry Howard Brownell 508 TWILIGHT ON SUMTER, Richard Henry Stoddard 509

Chapter X

The Final Struggle

PUT IT THROUGH, Edward Everett Hale 509 LOGAN AT PEACH TREE CREEK, Hamlin Garland 510 A DIRGE FOR MCPHERSON, Herman Melville 511 WITH CORSE AT ALLATOONA, Samuel H. M. Byers 511 ALLATOONA, Unknown 512 SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA, Samuel H. M. Byers 512 THE SONG OF SHERMAN'S ARMY, Charles Graham Halpine 513 MARCHING THROUGH GEORGIA, Henry Clay Work 513 ETHIOPIA SALUTING THE COLORS, Walt Whitman 514 SHERMAN'S IN SAVANNAH, Oliver Wendell Holmes 514 SAVANNAH, Alethea S. Burroughs 514 CAROLINA, Henry Timrod 515 CHARLESTON, Paul Hamilton Hayne 515 ROMANCE, William Ernest Henley 516 THE FOE AT THE GATES, John Dickson Bruns 516 ULRIC DAHLGREN, Kate Brownlee Sherwood 517 LEE TO THE REAR, John Randolph Thompson 518 CAN'T, Harriet Prescott Spofford 519 OBSEQUIES OF STUART, John Randolph Thompson 519 A CHRISTOPHER OF THE SHENANDOAH, Edith M. Thomas 520 SHERIDAN AT CEDAR CREEK, Herman Melville 521 SHERIDAN'S RIDE, Thomas Buchanan Read 521 THE YEAR OF JUBILEE, Henry Clay Work 522 VIRGINIA CAPTA, Margaret Junkin Preston 523 THE FALL OF RICHMOND, Herman Melville 523 THE SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX, Herman Melville 524 LEE'S PAROLE, Marion Manville 524 ROBERT E. LEE, Julia Ward Howe 524

Chapter XI

Winslow and Farragut

THE EAGLE AND VULTURE, Thomas Buchanan Read 525 KEARSARGE AND ALABAMA, Unknown 526 KEARSARGE, S. Weir Mitchell 526 THE ALABAMA, Maurice Bell 527 CRAVEN, Henry Newbolt 527 FARRAGUT, William Tuckey Meredith 528 THROUGH FIRE IN MOBILE BAY, Unknown 529 THE BAY FIGHT, Henry Howard Brownell 530 "ALBEMARLE" CUSHING, James Jeffrey Roche 535 AT THE CANNON'S MOUTH, Herman Melville 537

Chapter XII

The Martyr President

LINCOLN, S. Weir Mitchell 537 O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! Walt Whitman 537 THE DEAD PRESIDENT, Edward Rowland Sill 538 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Edmund Clarence Stedman 538 PARDON, Julia Ward Howe 539 THE DEAR PRESIDENT, John James Piatt 539 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, William Cullen Bryant 540 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Richard Henry Stoddard 540 PARRICIDE, Julia Ward Howe 542 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Tom Taylor 543

Chapter XIII

Peace

"STACK ARMS," Joseph Blynth Alston 545 JEFFERSON DAVIS, Walker Meriwether Bell 545 IN THE LAND WHERE WE WERE DREAMING, Daniel B. Lucas 546 ACCEPTATION, Margaret Junkin Preston 547 THE CONQUERED BANNER, Abram J. Ryan 547 PEACE, Adeline D. T. Whitney 547 PEACE, Phoebe Cary 548 A SECOND REVIEW OF THE GRAND ARMY, Bret Harte 548 WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME, Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore 549 DRIVING HOME THE COWS, Kate Putnam Osgood 550 ODE RECITED AT THE HARVARD COMMEMORATION, James Russell Lowell 550

V. THE PERIOD OF EXPANSION

THE EAGLE'S SONG, Richard Mansfield 558

Chapter I

Reconstruction and After

TO THE THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS, John Greenleaf Whittier 559 "MR. JOHNSON'S POLICY OF RECONSTRUCTION," Charles Graham Halpine 559 THADDEUS STEVENS, Phoebe Cary 560 SOUTH CAROLINA TO THE STATES OF THE NORTH, Paul Hamilton Hayne 561 KU-KLUX, Madison Cawein 562 THE REAR GUARD, Irene Fowler Brown 562 THE BLUE AND THE GRAY, Francis Miles Finch 563 THE STRICKEN SOUTH TO THE NORTH, Paul Hamilton Hayne 564 HOW CYRUS LAID THE CABLE, John Godfrey Saxe 565 THE CABLE HYMN, John Greenleaf Whittier 565 AN ARCTIC VISION, Bret Harte 566 ALASKA, Joaquin Miller 567 ISRAEL FREYER'S BID FOR GOLD, Edmund Clarence Stedman 567 CHICAGO, John Greenleaf Whittier 568 CHICAGO, Bret Harte 569 CHICAGO, John Boyle O'Reilly 569 BOSTON, John Boyle O'Reilly 570 THE CHURCH OF THE REVOLUTION, Hezekiah Butterworth 570 AFTER THE FIRE, Oliver Wendell Holmes 571 THE RIDE OF COLLINS GRAVES, John Boyle O'Reilly 571

Chapter II

The Year of a Hundred Years

OUR FIRST CENTURY, George Edward Woodberry 572 CENTENNIAL HYMN, John Greenleaf Whittier 573 THE CENTENNIAL MEDITATION OF COLUMBIA, Sidney Lanier 573 CENTENNIAL HYMN, William Cullen Bryant 574 WELCOME TO THE NATIONS, Oliver Wendell Holmes 574 THE NATIONAL ODE, Bayard Taylor 575 OUR NATIONAL BANNER, Dexter Smith 578 AFTER THE CENTENNIAL, Christopher Pearse Cranch 578

Chapter III

The Conquest of the Plains

THE PACIFIC RAILWAY, C. R. Ballard 579 AFTER THE COMANCHES, Unknown 579 DOWN THE LITTLE BIG HORN, Francis Brooks 580 LITTLE BIG HORN, Ernest McGaffey 581 CUSTER'S LAST CHARGE, Frederick Whittaker 582 CUSTER, Edmund Clarence Stedman 583 THE REVENGE OF RAIN-IN-THE-FACE, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 583 MILES KEOGH'S HORSE, John Hay 584 ON THE BIG HORN, John Greenleaf Whittier 585 THE "GREY HORSE TROOP," Robert W. Chambers 585 GERONIMO, Ernest McGaffey 586 THE LAST RESERVATION, Walter Learned 586 INDIAN NAMES, Lydia Huntley Sigourney 587

Chapter IV

The Second Assassination

REJOICE, Joaquin Miller 587 THE BELLS AT MIDNIGHT, Thomas Bailey Aldrich 588 J. A. G., Julia Ward Howe 589 MIDNIGHT--SEPTEMBER 19, 1881, John Boyle O'Reilly 589 AT THE PRESIDENT'S GRAVE, Richard Watson Gilder 590 ON THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD, Oliver Wendell Holmes 590 PRESIDENT GARFIELD, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 591 YORKTOWN CENTENNIAL LYRIC, Paul Hamilton Hayne 592 THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE, Edna Dean Proctor 593 BROOKLYN BRIDGE, Charles George Douglas Roberts 593 CHARLESTON, Richard Watson Gilder 594 MAYFLOWER, John Boyle O'Reilly 594 FAIREST OF FREEDOM'S DAUGHTERS, Jeremiah Eames Rankin 594 LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD, Edmund Clarence Stedman 595 THE BARTHOLDI STATUE, John Greenleaf Whittier 595 ADDITIONAL VERSES TO HAIL COLUMBIA, Oliver Wendell Holmes 596 NEW NATIONAL HYMN, Francis Marion Crawford 596 IN APIA BAY, Charles George Douglas Roberts 597 AN INTERNATIONAL EPISODE, Caroline T. Duer 598 BY THE CONEMAUGH, Florence Earle Coates 599 THE MAN WHO RODE TO CONEMAUGH, John Eliot Bowen 599 A BALLAD OF THE CONEMAUGH FLOOD, Hardwick Drummond Rawnsley 600 CONEMAUGH, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward 601 "THE WHITE CITY," Richard Watson Gilder 602 THE KEARSARGE, James Jeffrey Roche 602 TENNESSEE, Virginia Fraser Boyle 603 AN ODE ON THE UNVEILING OF THE SHAW MEMORIAL, Thomas Bailey Aldrich 603 THE KLONDIKE, Edwin Arlington Robinson 604

Chapter V

The War with Spain

APOSTROPHE TO THE ISLAND OF CUBA, James Gates Percival 606 THE GALLANT FIFTY-ONE, Henry Lynden Flash 606 CUBA, Edmund Clarence Stedman 607 THE GOSPEL OF PEACE, James Jeffrey Roche 607 CUBA, Harvey Rice 608 CUBA TO COLUMBIA, Will Carleton 608 CUBA LIBRE, Joaquin Miller 609 THE PARTING OF THE WAYS, Joseph B. Gilder 609 THE MEN OF THE MAINE, Clinton Scollard 609 THE WORD OF THE LORD FROM HAVANA, Richard Hovey 610 HALF-MAST, Lloyd Mifflin 611 THE FIGHTING RACE, Joseph I. C. Clarke 611 ON THE EVE OF WAR, Danske Dandridge 612 TO SPAIN--A LAST WORD, Edith M. Thomas 612 THE MARTYRS OF THE MAINE, Rupert Hughes 612 EL EMPLAZADO, William Henry Venable 613 BATTLE SONG, Robert Burns Wilson 613 GREETING FROM ENGLAND, Unknown 614 BATTLE CRY, William Henry Venable 614 JUST ONE SIGNAL, Unknown 614 DEWEY AT MANILA, Robert Underwood Johnson 615 DEWEY AND HIS MEN, Wallace Rice 617 "OFF MANILLY," Edmund Vance Cooke 618 MANILA BAY, Arthur Hale 618 A BALLAD OF MANILA BAY, Charles George Douglas Roberts 618 THE BATTLE OF MANILA, Richard Hovey 619 DEWEY IN MANILA BAY, R. V. Risley 620 "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN," Madison Cawein 620 THE SPIRIT OF THE MAINE, Tudor Jenks 621 THE DRAGON OF THE SEAS, Thomas Nelson Page 621 THE SAILING OF THE FLEET, Unknown 622 "CUT THE CABLES," Robert Burns Wilson 622 THE RACE OF THE OREGON, John James Meehan 624 BATTLE-SONG OF THE OREGON, Wallace Rice 624 STRIKE THE BLOW, Unknown 625 EIGHT VOLUNTEERS, Lansing C. Bailey 626 THE MEN OF THE MERRIMAC, Clinton Scollard 626 THE VICTORY-WRECK, Will Carleton 627 HOBSON AND HIS MEN, Robert Loveman 627 THE CALL TO THE COLORS, Arthur Guiterman 627 ESSEX REGIMENT MARCH, George Edward Woodberry 628 THE GATHERING, Herbert B. Swett 629 COMRADES, Henry R. Dorr 629 WHEELER'S BRIGADE AT SANTIAGO, Wallace Rice 629 DEEDS OF VALOR AT SANTIAGO, Clinton Scollard 630 THE CHARGE AT SANTIAGO, William Hamilton Hayne 630 PRIVATE BLAIR OF THE REGULARS, Clinton Scollard 631 WHEELER AT SANTIAGO, James Lindsay Gordon 631 SPAIN'S LAST ARMADA, Wallace Rice 632 SANTIAGO, Thomas A. Janvier 633 THE FLEET AT SANTIAGO, Charles E. Russell 634 THE DESTROYER OF DESTROYERS, Wallace Rice 635 THE BROOKLYN AT SANTIAGO, Wallace Rice 636 THE RUSH OF THE OREGON, Arthur Guiterman 637 THE MEN BEHIND THE GUNS, John Jerome Rooney 637 CERVERA, Bertrand Shadwell 638 MCILRATH OF MALATE, John Jerome Rooney 639 WHEN THE GREAT GRAY SHIPS COME IN, Guy Wetmore Carryl 640 FULL CYCLE, John White Chadwick 640 BREATH ON THE OAT, Joseph Russell Taylor 641 THE ISLANDS OF THE SEA, George Edward Woodberry 641 BALLADE OF EXPANSION, Hilda Johnson 642 "REBELS," Ernest Crosby 643 ON A SOLDIER FALLEN IN THE PHILIPPINES, William Vaughn Moody 643 THE BALLAD OF PACO TOWN, Clinton Scollard 644 THE DEED OF LIEUTENANT MILES, Clinton Scollard 644 AGUINALDO, Bertrand Shadwell 645 THE FIGHT AT DAJO, Alfred E. Wood 645 AN ODE IN TIME OF HESITATION, William Vaughn Moody 646

Chapter VI

The New Century

A TOAST TO OUR NATIVE LAND, Robert Bridges 649 BUFFALO, Florence Earle Coates 649 MCKINLEY, Unknown 649 FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH, Richard Handfield Titherington 650 THE COMFORT OF THE TREES, Richard Watson Gilder 650 OUTWARD BOUND, Edward Sydney Tylee 650 PANAMA, James Jeffrey Roche 651 DARIEN, Edwin Arnold 651 PANAMA, Amanda T. Jones 652 A SONG OF PANAMA, Alfred Damon Runyon 652 HYMN OF THE WEST, Edmund Clarence Stedman 653 BRITANNIA TO COLUMBIA, Alfred Austin 654 THOSE REBEL FLAGS, John H. Jewett 654 THE SONG OF THE FLAGS, S. Weir Mitchell 655 ARIZONA, Sharlot M. Hall 655 SAN FRANCISCO, Joaquin Miller 657 SAN FRANCISCO, John Vance Cheney 657 TO SAN FRANCISCO, S. J. Alexander 657 RESURGE SAN FRANCISCO, Joaquin Miller 658 GROVER CLEVELAND, Joel Benton 658 UNGUARDED GATES, Thomas Bailey Aldrich 659 NATIONAL SONG, William Henry Venable 659 AD PATRIAM, Clinton Scollard 660 O LAND BELOVED, George Edward Woodberry 660 THE REPUBLIC, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 660

Chapter VII

The World War

SONNETS WRITTEN IN THE FALL OF 1914, George Edward Woodberry 661 ABRAHAM LINCOLN WALKS AT MIDNIGHT, Vachel Lindsay 661 THE "WILLIAM P. FRYE," Jeanne Robert Foster 662 THE WHITE SHIPS AND THE RED, Joyce Kilmer 663 MARE LIBERUM, Henry van Dyke 664 ODE IN MEMORY OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS FALLEN FOR FRANCE, Alan Seeger 664 REPUBLIC TO REPUBLIC, Witter Bynner 666 TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Robert Bridges 666 THE CAPTIVE SHIPS AT MANILA, Dorothy Paul 666 THE ROAD TO FRANCE, Daniel Henderson 667 PERSHING AT THE TOMB OF LAFAYETTE, Amelia Josephine Burr 667 YOUR LAD, AND MY LAD, Randall Parrish 668 A CALL TO ARMS, Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews 668 THE FIRST THREE, Clinton Scollard 669 TO AMERICA, ON HER FIRST SONS FALLEN IN THE GREAT WAR, E. M. Walker 670 ROUGE BOUQUET, Joyce Kilmer 670 MARCHING SONG, Dana Burnet 671 OUR MODEST DOUGHBOYS, Charlton Andrews 671 SEICHEPREY 672 A BALLAD OF REDHEAD'S DAY, Richard Butler Glaenzer 672 VICTORY BELLS, Grace Hazard Conkling 673 EPICEDIUM, J. Corson Miller 673 THE DEAD, David Morton 674 THE UNRETURNING, Clinton Scollard 674 THE STAR, Marion Couthouy Smith 674 BREST LEFT BEHIND, John Chipman Farrar 674 TO THE RETURNING BRAVE, Robert Underwood Johnson 675 THE RETURN, Eleanor Rogers Cox 676 KING OF THE BELGIANS, Marion Couthouy Smith 676 THE FAMILY OF NATIONS, Willard Wattles 677 THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, Mary Siegrist 677 BEYOND WARS, David Morton 678 "WHEN THERE IS PEACE," Austin Dobson 678 AFTER THE WAR, Richard Le Gallienne 678

NOTES 681

INDEX OF AUTHORS 699

INDEX OF FIRST LINES 705

INDEX OF TITLES 713

I. THE COLONIAL PERIOD

AMERICA

Oh, who has not heard of the Northmen of yore, How flew, like the sea-bird, their sails from the shore; How westward they stayed not till, breasting the brine, They hailed Narragansett, the land of the vine?

Then the war-songs of Rollo, his pennon and glaive, Were heard as they danced by the moon-lighted wave, And their golden-haired wives bore them sons of the soil, While raged with the redskins their feud and turmoil.

And who has not seen, mid the summer's gay crowd, That old pillared tower of their fortalice proud, How it stands solid proof of the sea chieftains' reign Ere came with Columbus those galleys of Spain?

'Twas a claim for their kindred: an earnest of sway,-- By the stout-hearted Cabot made good in its day,-- Of the Cross of St. George on the Chesapeake's tide, Where lovely Virginia arose like a bride.

Came the pilgrims with Winthrop; and, saint of the West, Came Robert of Jamestown, the brave and the blest; Came Smith, the bold rover, and Rolfe--with his ring, To wed sweet Matoäka, child of a king.

Undaunted they came, every peril to dare, Of tribes fiercer far than the wolf in his lair; Of the wild irksome woods, where in ambush they lay; Of their terror by night and their arrow by day.

And so where our capes cleave the ice of the poles, Where groves of the orange scent sea-coast and shoals, Where the froward Atlantic uplifts its last crest, Where the sun, when he sets, seeks the East from the West.

The clime that from ocean to ocean expands, The fields to the snow-drifts that stretch from the sands, The wilds they have conquered of mountain and plain, Those pilgrims have made them fair Freedom's domain.

And the bread of dependence if proudly they spurned, 'Twas the soul of their fathers that kindled and burned, 'Twas the blood of the Saxon within them that ran; They held--to be free is the birthright of man.

So oft the old lion, majestic of mane, Sees cubs of his cave breaking loose from his reign; Unmeet to be his if they braved not his eye, He gave them the spirit his own to defy.

ARTHUR CLEVELAND COXE.

POEMS OF AMERICAN HISTORY

I. THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA

Bjarni, son of Herjulf, speeding westward from Iceland in 986, to spend the Yuletide in Greenland with his father, encountered foggy weather and steered by guesswork for many days. At last he sighted land, but a land covered with dense woods,--not at all the land of fiords and glaciers he was seeking. So, without stopping, he turned his prow to the north, and ten days later was telling his story to the listening circle before the blazing logs in his father's house at Brattahlid. The tale came, in time, to the ears of Leif, the famous son of Red Eric, and in the year 1000 he set out from Greenland, with a crew of thirty-five, in search of the strange land to the south. He reached the barren coast of Labrador and named it Helluland, or "slate-land;" south of it was a coast so densely wooded that he named it Markland, or "woodland." At last he ran his ship ashore at a spot where "a river, issuing from a lake, fell into the sea." Wild grapes abounded, and he named the country Vinland.

THE STORY OF VINLAND[1]

From "Psalm of the West"

Far spread, below, The sea that fast hath locked in his loose flow All secrets of Atlantis' drownèd woe Lay bound about with night on every hand, Save down the eastern brink a shining band Of day made out a little way from land. Then from that shore the wind upbore a cry: _Thou Sea, thou Sea of Darkness! why, oh why Dost waste thy West in unthrift mystery?_ But ever the idiot sea-mouths foam and fill, And never a wave doth good for man, or ill, And Blank is king, and Nothing hath his will; And like as grim-beaked pelicans level file Across the sunset toward their nightly isle On solemn wings that wave but seldom while, So leanly sails the day behind the day To where the Past's lone Rock o'erglooms the spray, And down its mortal fissures sinks away.

Master, Master, break this ban: The wave lacks Thee. Oh, is it not to widen man Stretches the sea? Oh, must the sea-bird's idle van Alone be free?

Into the Sea of the Dark doth creep Björne's pallid sail, As the face of a walker in his sleep, Set rigid and most pale, About the night doth peer and peep In a dream of an ancient tale.

Lo, here is made a hasty cry: _Land, land, upon the west!-- God save such land! Go by, go by: Here may no mortal rest, Where this waste hell of slate doth lie And grind the glacier's breast._

The sail goeth limp: hey, flap and strain! Round eastward slanteth the mast; As the sleep-walker waked with pain, White-clothed in the midnight blast, Doth stare and quake, and stride again To houseward all aghast.

Yet as--A ghost! his household cry: _He hath followed a ghost in flight. Let us see the ghost_--his household fly With lamps to search the night-- So Norsemen's sails run out and try The Sea of the Dark with light.

Stout Are Marson, southward whirled From out the tempest's hand, Doth skip the sloping of the world To Huitramannaland, Where Georgia's oaks with moss-beards curled Wave by the shining strand,

And sway in sighs from Florida's Spring Or Carolina's Palm-- What time the mocking-bird doth bring The woods his artist's-balm, Singing the Song of Everything Consummate-sweet and calm--

Land of large merciful-hearted skies, Big bounties, rich increase, Green rests for Trade's blood-shotten eyes, For o'er-beat brains surcease, For Love the dear woods' sympathies, For Grief the wise woods' peace.

For Need rich givings of hid powers In hills and vales quick-won, For Greed large exemplary flowers That ne'er have toiled nor spun, For Heat fair-tempered winds and showers, For Cold the neighbor sun.

* * * * *

Then Leif, bold son of Eric the Red, To the South of the West doth flee-- Past slaty Helluland is sped, Past Markland's woody lea, Till round about fair Vinland's head, Where Taunton helps the sea,

The Norseman calls, the anchor falls, The mariners hurry a-strand: They wassail with fore-drunken skals Where prophet wild grapes stand; They lift the Leifsbooth's hasty walls, They stride about the land--

New England, thee! whose ne'er-spent wine As blood doth stretch each vein, And urge thee, sinewed like thy vine, Through peril and all pain To grasp Endeavor's towering Pine, And, once ahold, remain--

Land where the strenuous-handed Wind With sarcasm of a friend Doth smite the man would lag behind To frontward of his end; Yea, where the taunting fall and grind Of Nature's Ill doth send

Such mortal challenge of a clown Rude-thrust upon the soul, That men but smile where mountains frown Or scowling waters roll, And Nature's front of battle down Do hurl from pole to pole.

Now long the Sea of Darkness glimmers low With sails from Northland flickering to and fro-- Thorwald, Karlsefne, and those twin heirs of woe, Hellboge and Finnge, in treasonable bed Slain by the ill-born child of Eric Red, Freydisa false. Till, as much time is fled, Once more the vacant airs with darkness fill, Once more the wave doth never good nor ill, And Blank is king, and Nothing works his will; And leanly sails the day behind the day To where the Past's lone Rock o'erglooms the spray, And down its mortal fissures sinks away, As when the grim-beaked pelicans level file Across the sunset to their seaward isle On solemn wings that wave but seldomwhile.

SIDNEY LANIER.

[1] From Poems by Sidney Lanier; copyright, 1884, 1891, by Mary D. Lanier; published by Charles Scribner's Sons.

Leif and his crew spent the winter in Vinland, and in the following spring took back to Greenland news of the pleasant country they had discovered. Other voyages followed, but the newcomers became embroiled with the natives, who attacked them in such numbers that all projects of colonization were abandoned; and finally, in 1012, the Norsemen sailed away forever from this land of promise.

THE NORSEMEN

[On a fragment of statue found at Bradford.]

Gift from the cold and silent Past! A relic to the present cast; Left on the ever-changing strand Of shifting and unstable sand, Which wastes beneath the steady chime And beating of the waves of Time! Who from its bed of primal rock First wrenched thy dark, unshapely block? Whose hand, of curious skill untaught, Thy rude and savage outline wrought?

The waters of my native stream Are glancing in the sun's warm beam; From sail-urged keel and flashing oar The circles widen to its shore; And cultured field and peopled town Slope to its willowed margin down. Yet, while this morning breeze is bringing The home-life sound of school-bells ringing, And rolling wheel, and rapid jar Of the fire-winged and steedless car, And voices from the wayside near Come quick and blended on my ear,-- A spell is in this old gray stone, My thoughts are with the Past alone!

A change!--The steepled town no more Stretches along the sail-thronged shore; Like palace-domes in sunset's cloud, Fade sun-gilt spire and mansion proud: Spectrally rising where they stood, I see the old, primeval wood; Dark, shadow-like, on either hand I see its solemn waste expand; It climbs the green and cultured hill, It arches o'er the valley's rill, And leans from cliff and crag to throw Its wild arms o'er the stream below. Unchanged, alone, the same bright river Flows on, as it will flow forever! I listen, and I hear the low Soft ripple where its waters go; I hear behind the panther's cry, The wild-bird's scream goes thrilling by, And shyly on the river's brink The deer is stooping down to drink.

But hark!--from wood and rock flung back, What sound comes up the Merrimac? What sea-worn barks are those which throw The light spray from each rushing prow? Have they not in the North Sea's blast Bowed to the waves the straining mast? Their frozen sails the low, pale sun Of Thulë's night has shone upon; Flapped by the sea-wind's gusty sweep Round icy drift, and headland steep. Wild Jutland's wives and Lochlin's daughters Have watched them fading o'er the waters, Lessening through driving mist and spray, Like white-winged sea-birds on their way!

Onward they glide,--and now I view Their iron-armed and stalwart crew; Joy glistens in each wild blue eye, Turned to green earth and summer sky. Each broad, seamed breast has cast aside Its cumbering vest of shaggy hide; Bared to the sun and soft warm air, Streams back the Northmen's yellow hair. I see the gleam of axe and spear, A sound of smitten shields I hear, Keeping a harsh and fitting time To Saga's chant, and Runic rhyme; Such lays as Zetland's Scald has sung, His gray and naked isles among; Or muttered low at midnight hour Round Odin's mossy stone of power. The wolf beneath the Arctic moon Has answered to that startling rune; The Gael has heard its stormy swell, The light Frank knows its summons well; Iona's sable-stoled Culdee Has heard it sounding o'er the sea, And swept, with hoary beard and hair, His altar's foot in trembling prayer!

'Tis past,--the 'wildering vision dies In darkness on my dreaming eyes! The forest vanishes in air, Hill-slope and vale lie starkly bare; I hear the common tread of men, And hum of work-day life again; The mystic relic seems alone A broken mass of common stone; And if it be the chiselled limb Of Berserker or idol grim, A fragment of Valhalla's Thor, The stormy Viking's god of War, Or Praga of the Runic lay, Or love-awakening Siona, I know not,--for no graven line, Nor Druid mark, nor Runic sign, Is left me here, by which to trace Its name, or origin, or place. Yet, for this vision of the Past, This glance upon its darkness cast, My spirit bows in gratitude Before the Giver of all good, Who fashioned so the human mind, That, from the waste of Time behind, A simple stone, or mound of earth, Can summon the departed forth; Quicken the Past to life again, The Present lose in what hath been, And in their primal freshness show The buried forms of long ago. As if a portion of that Thought By which the Eternal will is wrought, Whose impulse fills anew with breath The frozen solitude of Death, To mortal mind were sometimes lent, To mortal musings sometimes sent, To whisper--even when it seems But Memory's fantasy of dreams-- Through the mind's waste of woe and sin, Of an immortal origin!

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.

This, in mere outline, is the story of Vinland, as told in the Icelandic Chronicle. Of its substantial accuracy there can be little doubt. Many proofs of Norse occupation have been found on the shores of Massachusetts Bay. The "skeleton in armor," however, which was unearthed in 1835 near Fall River, Mass., was probably that of an Indian.

THE SKELETON IN ARMOR

"Speak! speak! thou fearful guest! Who, with thy hollow breast Still in rude armor drest, Comest to daunt me! Wrapt not in Eastern balms, But with thy fleshless palms Stretched, as if asking alms, Why dost thou haunt me?"

Then, from those cavernous eyes Pale flashes seemed to rise, As when the Northern skies Gleam in December; And, like the water's flow Under December's snow, Came a dull voice of woe From the heart's chamber.

"I was a Viking old! My deeds, though manifold, No Skald in song has told, No Saga taught thee! Take heed, that in thy verse Thou dost the tale rehearse, Else dread a dead man's curse; For this I sought thee.

"Far in the Northern Land, By the wild Baltic's strand, I, with my childish hand, Tamed the gerfalcon; And, with my skates fast-bound, Skimmed the half-frozen Sound, That the poor whimpering hound Trembled to walk on.

"Oft to his frozen lair Tracked I the grisly bear, While from my path the hare Fled like a shadow; Oft through the forest dark Followed the were-wolf's bark, Until the soaring lark Sang from the meadow.

"But when I older grew, Joining a corsair's crew, O'er the dark sea I flew With the marauders. Wild was the life we led; Many the souls that sped, Many the hearts that bled, By our stern orders.

"Many a wassail-bout Wore the long winter out; Often our midnight shout Set the cocks crowing, As we the Berserk's tale Measured in cups of ale, Draining the oaken pail, Filled to o'erflowing.

"Once as I told in glee Tales of the stormy sea, Soft eyes did gaze on me, Burning yet tender; And as the white stars shine On the dark Norway pine, On that dark heart of mine Fell their soft splendor.

"I wooed the blue-eyed maid, Yielding, yet half afraid, And in the forest's shade Our vows were plighted. Under its loosened vest Fluttered her little breast, Like birds within their nest By the hawk frighted.

"Bright in her father's hall Shields gleamed upon the wall, Loud sang the minstrels all, Chanting his glory; When of old Hildebrand I asked his daughter's hand, Mute did the minstrels stand To hear my story.

"While the brown ale he quaffed, Loud then the champion laughed, And as the wind-gusts waft The sea-foam brightly, So the loud laugh of scorn, Out of those lips unshorn, From the deep drinking-horn Blew the foam lightly.

"She was a Prince's child, I but a Viking wild, And though she blushed and smiled, I was discarded! Should not the dove so white Follow the sea-mew's flight, Why did they leave that night Her nest unguarded?

"Scarce had I put to sea, Bearing the maid with me, Fairest of all was she Among the Norsemen! When on the white sea-strand, Waving his armèd hand, Saw we old Hildebrand, With twenty horsemen.

"Then launched they to the blast, Bent like a reed each mast, Yet we were gaining fast, When the wind failed us; And with a sudden flaw Came round the gusty Skaw, So that our foe we saw Laugh as he hailed us.

"And as to catch the gale Round veered the flapping sail, 'Death!' was the helmsman's hail, 'Death without quarter!' Mid-ships with iron keel Struck we her ribs of steel! Down her black hulk did reel Through the black water!

"As with his wings aslant, Sails the fierce cormorant, Seeking some rocky haunt, With his prey laden.-- So toward the open main, Beating to sea again, Through the wild hurricane, Bore I the maiden.

"Three weeks we westward bore, And when the storm was o'er, Cloud-like we saw the shore Stretching to leeward; There for my lady's bower Built I the lofty tower, Which, to this very hour, Stands looking seaward.

"There lived we many years; Time dried the maiden's tears; She had forgot her fears, She was a mother; Death closed her mild blue eyes, Under that tower she lies; Ne'er shall the sun arise On such another!

"Still grew my bosom then, Still as a stagnant fen! Hateful to me were men, The sunlight hateful! In the vast forest here, Clad in my warlike gear, Fell I upon my spear, Oh, death was grateful!

"Thus, seamed with many scars, Bursting these prison bars, Up to its native stars My soul ascended! There from the flowing bowl Deep drinks the warrior's soul, Skoal! to the Northland! skoal!" Thus the tale ended.

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW.

The centuries passed, and no more of the white-skinned race came to the New World. But a new era was at hand; the day drew near when a little fleet was to put out from Spain and turn its prows westward on the grandest voyage the world has ever known.

PROPHECY

From "Il Morgante Maggiore"

1485

His bark The daring mariner shall urge far o'er The Western wave, a smooth and level plain. Albeit the earth is fashioned like a wheel. Man was in ancient days of grosser mould, And Hercules might blush to learn how far Beyond the limits he had vainly set The dullest sea-boat soon shall wing her way. Man shall descry another hemisphere, Since to one common centre all things tend. So earth, by curious mystery divine Well balanced, hangs amid the starry spheres. At our antipodes are cities, states, And throngèd empires, ne'er divined of yore. But see, the sun speeds on his western path To glad the nations with expected light.

LUIGI PULCI.

About 1436 a son was born to Dominico Colombo, wool-comber, of Genoa, and in due time christened Cristoforo. Of his boyhood little is known save that he early went to sea. About 1470 he followed his brother Bartholomew to Lisbon, and in 1474 he was given a map by Toscanelli, the Florentine astronomer, showing Japan and the Indies directly west of Portugal, together with a long letter in which Toscanelli explained his reasons for believing that by sailing west one could reach the East. Columbus, studying the problem month by month, became convinced of the feasibility of such a route to the Indies, and determined himself to traverse it.

THE INSPIRATION

From "The West Indies"

Long lay the ocean-paths from man conceal'd; Light came from heaven,--the magnet was reveal'd, A surer star to guide the seaman's eye Than the pale glory of the northern sky; Alike ordain'd to shine by night and day, Through calm and tempest, with unsetting ray; Where'er the mountains rise, the billows roll, Still with strong impulse turning to the pole, True as the sun is to the morning true, Though light as film, and trembling as the dew.

Then man no longer plied with timid oar, And failing heart, along the windward shore; Broad to the sky he turn'd his fearless sail, Defied the adverse, woo'd the favoring gale, Bared to the storm his adamantine breast, Or soft on ocean's lap lay down to rest; While free, as clouds the liquid ether sweep, His white-wing'd vessels coursed the unbounded deep; From clime to clime the wanderer loved to roam, The waves his heritage, the world his home.

Then first Columbus, with the mighty hand Of grasping genius, weigh'd the sea and land; The floods o'erbalanced:--where the tide of light, Day after day, roll'd down the gulf of night, There seem'd one waste of waters:--long in vain His spirit brooded o'er the Atlantic main; When sudden, as creation burst from nought, Sprang a new world through his stupendous thought, Light, order, beauty!--While his mind explored The unveiling mystery, his heart adored; Where'er sublime imagination trod, He heard the voice, he saw the face of God.

Far from the western cliffs he cast his eye, O'er the wide ocean stretching to the sky: In calm magnificence the sun declined, And left a paradise of clouds behind: Proud at his feet, with pomp of pearl and gold, The billows in a sea of glory roll'd.

"--Ah! on this sea of glory might I sail, Track the bright sun, and pierce the eternal veil That hides those lands, beneath Hesperian skies, Where daylight sojourns till our morrow rise!"

Thoughtful he wander'd on the beach alone; Mild o'er the deep the vesper planet shone, The eye of evening, brightening through the west Till the sweet moment when it shut to rest: "Whither, O golden Venus! art thou fled? Not in the ocean-chambers lies thy bed; Round the dim world thy glittering chariot drawn Pursues the twilight, or precedes the dawn; Thy beauty noon and midnight never see, The morn and eve divide the year with thee."

Soft fell the shades, till Cynthia's slender bow Crested the furthest wave, then sunk below: "Tell me, resplendent guardian of the night, Circling the sphere in thy perennial flight, What secret path of heaven thy smiles adorn, What nameless sea reflects thy gleaming horn?"

Now earth and ocean vanish'd, all serene The starry firmament alone was seen; Through the slow, silent hours, he watch'd the host Of midnight suns in western darkness lost, Till Night himself, on shadowy pinions borne, Fled o'er the mighty waters, and the morn Danced on the mountains:--"Lights of heaven!" he cried, "Lead on;--I go to win a glorious bride; Fearless o'er gulfs unknown I urge my way, Where peril prowls, and shipwreck lurks for prey: Hope swells my sail;--in spirit I behold That maiden-world, twin-sister of the old, By nature nursed beyond the jealous sea, Denied to ages, but betroth'd to me."

JAMES MONTGOMERY.

In 1484 Columbus laid his plan before King John II, of Portugal, but became so disgusted with his treachery and double-dealing, that he left Portugal and entered the service of Ferdinand and Isabella. The Spanish monarchs listened to him with attention, and ordered that the greatest astronomers and cosmographers of the kingdom should assemble at Salamanca and pass upon the feasibility of the project.

COLUMBUS

[January, 1487]

St. Stephen's cloistered hall was proud In learning's pomp that day, For there a robed and stately crowd Pressed on in long array. A mariner with simple chart Confronts that conclave high, While strong ambition stirs his heart, And burning thoughts of wonder part From lip and sparkling eye.

What hath he said? With frowning face, In whispered tones they speak, And lines upon their tablets trace, Which flush each ashen cheek; The Inquisition's mystic doom Sits on their brows severe, And bursting forth in visioned gloom, Sad heresy from burning tomb Groans on the startled ear.

Courage, thou Genoese! Old Time Thy splendid dream shall crown; Yon Western Hemisphere sublime, Where unshorn forests frown, The awful Andes' cloud-wrapt brow, The Indian hunter's bow, Bold streams untamed by helm or prow, And rocks of gold and diamonds, thou To thankless Spain shalt show.

Courage, World-finder! Thou hast need! In Fate's unfolding scroll, Dark woes and ingrate wrongs I read, That rack the noble soul. On! on! Creation's secrets probe, Then drink thy cup of scorn, And wrapped in fallen Cæsar's robe, Sleep like that master of the globe, All glorious,--yet forlorn.

LYDIA HUNTLEY SIGOURNEY.

The council convened at Salamanca and examined Columbus; but it presented to him an almost impenetrable wall of bigotry and prejudice. Long delays and adjournments followed; and for three years the suppliant was put off with excuses and evasions. At last, worn out with waiting and anxiety, he appealed to Ferdinand to give him a definite answer.

COLUMBUS TO FERDINAND

[January, 1491]

Illustrious monarch of Iberia's soil, Too long I wait permission to depart; Sick of delays, I beg thy list'ning ear-- Shine forth the patron and the prince of art.

While yet Columbus breathes the vital air, Grant his request to pass the western main: Reserve this glory for thy native soil, And what must please thee more--for thy own reign.

Of this huge globe, how small a part we know-- Does heaven their worlds to western suns deny?-- How disproportion'd to the mighty deep The lands that yet in human prospect lie!

Does Cynthia, when to western skies arriv'd, Spend her sweet beam upon the barren main, And ne'er illume with midnight splendor, she, The natives dancing on the lightsome green?--

Should the vast circuit of the world contain Such wastes of ocean, and such scanty land?-- 'Tis reason's voice that bids me think not so, I think more nobly of the Almighty hand.

Does yon fair lamp trace half the circle round To light the waves and monsters of the seas?-- No--be there must beyond the billowy waste Islands, and men, and animals, and trees.

An unremitting flame my breast inspires To seek new lands amidst the barren waves, Where falling low, the source of day descends, And the blue sea his evening visage laves.

Hear, in his tragic lay, Cordova's sage: "_The time shall come, when numerous years are past, The ocean shall dissolve the bonds of things, And an extended region rise at last;_

"_And Typhis shall disclose the mighty land Far, far away, where none have rov'd before; Nor shall the world's remotest region be Gibraltar's rock, or Thule's savage shore._"

Fir'd at the theme, I languish to depart, Supply the barque, and bid Columbus sail; He fears no storms upon the untravell'd deep; Reason shall steer, and skill disarm the gale.

Nor does he dread to lose the intended course, Though far from land the reeling galley stray, And skies above and gulphy seas below Be the sole objects seen for many a day.

Think not that Nature has unveil'd in vain The mystic magnet to the mortal eye: So late have we the guiding needle plann'd Only to sail beneath our native sky?

Ere this was found, the ruling power of all Found for our use an ocean in the land, Its breadth so small we could not wander long, Nor long be absent from the neighboring strand.

Short was the course, and guided by the stars, But stars no more shall point our daring way; The Bear shall sink, and every guard be drown'd, And great Arcturus scarce escape the sea,

When southward we shall steer--O grant my wish, Supply the barque, and bid Columbus sail, He dreads no tempests on the untravell'd deep, Reason shall steer, and skill disarm the gale.

PHILIP FRENEAU.

Early in 1491 the council of Salamanca reported that the proposed enterprise was vain and impossible of execution, and Ferdinand accepted the decision. Indignant at thought of the years he had wasted, Columbus started for Paris, to lay his plan before the King of France. He was accompanied by his son, Diego, and stopped one night at the convent of La Rabida, near Palos, to ask for food and shelter. The prior, Juan Perez de Marchena, became interested in his project, detained him, and finally secured for him another audience of Isabella.

COLUMBUS AT THE CONVENT

[July, 1491]

Dreary and brown the night comes down, Gloomy, without a star. On Palos town the night comes down; The day departs with a stormy frown; The sad sea moans afar.

A convent-gate is near; 'tis late; Ting-ling! the bell they ring. They ring the bell, they ask for bread-- "Just for my child," the father said. Kind hands the bread will bring.

White was his hair, his mien was fair, His look was calm and great. The porter ran and called a friar; The friar made haste and told the prior; The prior came to the gate.

He took them in, he gave them food; The traveller's dreams he heard; And fast the midnight moments flew, And fast the good man's wonder grew, And all his heart was stirred.

The child the while, with soft, sweet smile Forgetful of all sorrow, Lay soundly sleeping in his bed. The good man kissed him then, and said: "You leave us not to-morrow!

"I pray you rest the convent's guest; The child shall be our own-- A precious care, while you prepare Your business with the court, and bear Your message to the throne."

And so his guest he comforted. O wise, good prior! to you, Who cheered the stranger's darkest days, And helped him on his way, what praise And gratitude are due!

JOHN T. TROWBRIDGE.

Isabella and Ferdinand were with their army before Granada, and received Columbus well; but his demands for emoluments and honors in the event of success were pronounced absurd; the negotiations were broken off, and again Columbus started for France. The few converts to his theories were in despair, and one of them, Luis de Santangel, receiver of the ecclesiastical revenues of Aragon, obtained an audience of the Queen, and enkindled her patriotic spirit. When Ferdinand still hesitated, she exclaimed, "I undertake the enterprise for my own crown of Castile. I will pledge my jewels to raise the money that is needed!" Santangel assured her that he himself was ready to provide the money, and advanced seventeen thousand florins from the coffers of Aragon, so that Ferdinand really paid for the expedition, after all.

THE FINAL STRUGGLE

From "The New World"

[January 6--April 17, 1492]

Yet had his sun not risen; from his lips Fell in swift fervid accents his desire, And Talavera's eyes of smouldering fire Shone with a myriad doubts, a dark eclipse Of faith hung round him, and the longed-for ships Ploughed but the ocean of his star-lit dreams; Time had not tried his soul enough with whips And scorns, for so the rigid Master deems He makes his servants fit For the hard toils which knit The perfect garment, firm and without seams, The world shall wear at last; his hurt brain teems With indignation and he turns away Undaunted, and he girds him for the fray Once more; but first he hears the words of his good friend, Marchena, strong with trust in the far-shining end.

His wanderings reached at last the lonely door Of calm La Rabida; there the silence came Grateful upon his grief's consuming flame; The simple cloisters gave him peace once more, And the live ocean rolled up to the shore In ceaseless voice of promise; through the pines The sun looked down benignant, and the roar Of the far world of rivalries declines Into an inward murmur With each day growing firmer, Whose sense is conquest at the last; as shines A lamp across a rocky path's confines, Making the outlet clear, Juan Perez' faith Who heard him and conceived his words no wraith Of fevered fancy but the very truth, was light To bring the Queen to know his purposes aright.

O noble priest and friend! you reached the court And turned the Queen from conquest's mid career To hearken; other triumphs glittered clear Before her, and again from Huelva's port The seeker came; he saw Granada's fort Open its gates reluctant, and the King, El Zogoibi, bewail his bitter sort And loss which made the rich Te Deums ring When on La Vela's tower The cross bloomed like a flower Of heaven's own growing; but the sudden spring, Loud with birds silent long that strove to sing, After the winter's weary voiceless reign, Was overcast with storms of cold disdain; Haughtily forth he fared and reached Granada's gates When the clouds lifted and the persecuting fates

Relented from their fury; for the Queen Listened unto the urgings manifold Of Santangel, and counsel, wise and bold, Of the far-seeing Marchioness, whose keen Divinings pierced the misty ocean's screen And felt the deed must surely come to pass; So they recalled him, and his life's changed scene Grew bright with blooms and smile of thickening grass; O royal woman then Your hand received again The keys of a great realm; in the clear glass Of actions yet to be whose fires amass Infinite stores of impulse toward the good, Your image permanent lies; forth from the wood Of beasts malicious and the unrelenting dread You showed the way, but sought not from the gloom to tread.

The wind was fair, the ships lay in the bay, And the blue sky looked down upon the earth; Prophetic time laughed toward the nearing birth Of the strong child with whom should come a day That dulled all earlier hours. Forth on the way With holy blessings said, and bellied sails, And mounting joy that knows not let nor stay! Lo! the undaunted purpose never fails! O patient master, seer, For whom the far is near, The vision true, and the mere present pales Its lustre, what mild seas and blossomed vales Awaited you? haply a paradise But not the one which drew your swerveless eyes; Could you have known what lands were there beyond the main, You surelier would have turned to gladsomeness from pain.

LOUIS JAMES BLOCK.

With the greatest difficulty, Columbus managed to secure three little vessels, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Niña, and to enlist about a hundred and twenty men for the enterprise. Early in the morning of Friday, August 3, 1492, this tiny fleet sailed out from Palos and turned their prows to the west.

STEER, BOLD MARINER, ON!

[August 3, 1492]

Steer, bold mariner, on! albeit witlings deride thee, And the steersman drop idly his hand at the helm. Ever and ever to westward! there must the coast be discovered, If it but lie distinct, luminous lie in thy mind. Trust to the God that leads thee, and follow the sea that is silent; Did it not yet exist, now would it rise from the flood. Nature with Genius stands united in league everlasting; What is promised by one, surely the other performs.

FRIEDRICH VON SCHILLER.

The fleet reached the Canaries without misadventure, but when the shores of Ferro sank from sight, the sailors gave themselves up for lost. Their terror increased day by day; the compass behaved strangely, the boats became entangled in vast meadows of floating seaweed; and finally the trade-winds wafted them so steadily westward that they became convinced they could never return. By October 4 there were ominous signs of mutiny, and finally, on the 11th, affairs reached a crisis.

THE TRIUMPH[2]

From "Psalm of the West"

[Dawn, October 12, 1492]

Santa Maria, well thou tremblest down the wave, Thy Pinta far abow, thy Niña nigh astern: Columbus stands in the night alone, and, passing grave, Yearns o'er the sea as tones o'er under-silence yearn. Heartens his heart as friend befriends his friend less brave, Makes burn the faiths that cool, and cools the doubts that burn:--

"'Twixt this and dawn, three hours my soul will smite With prickly seconds, or less tolerably With dull-blade minutes flatwise slapping me. Wait, Heart! Time moves.--Thou lithe young Western Night, Just-crownèd king, slow riding to thy right, Would God that I might straddle mutiny Calm as thou sitt'st yon never-managed sea, Balk'st with his balking, fliest with his flight, Giv'st supple to his rearings and his falls, Nor dropp'st one coronal star above thy brow Whilst ever dayward thou art steadfast drawn! Yea, would I rode these mad contentious brawls No damage taking from their If and How, Nor no result save galloping to my Dawn!

"My Dawn? my Dawn? How if it never break? How if this West by other Wests is pieced, And these by vacant Wests on Wests increased-- One Pain of Space, with hollow ache on ache Throbbing and ceasing not for Christ's own sake?-- Big perilous theorem, hard for king and priest: Pursue the West but long enough, 'tis East! Oh, if this watery world no turning take! Oh, if for all my logic, all my dreams, Provings of that which is by that which seems, Fears, hopes, chills, heats, hastes, patiences, droughts, tears, Wife-grievings, slights on love, embezzled years, Hates, treaties, scorns, upliftings, loss and gain,-- This earth, no sphere, be all one sickening plane!

"Or, haply, how if this contrarious West, That me by turns hath starved, by turns hath fed, Embraced, disgraced, beat back, solicited, Have no fixed heart of Law within his breast, Or with some different rhythm doth e'er contest Nature in the East? Why, 'tis but three weeks fled I saw my Judas needle shake his head And flout the Pole that, East, he Lord confessed! God! if this West should own some other Pole, And with his tangled ways perplex my soul Until the maze grow mortal, and I die Where distraught Nature clean hath gone astray, On earth some other wit than Time's at play, Some other God than mine above the sky!

"Now speaks mine other heart with cheerier seeming: _Ho, Admiral! o'er-defalking to thy crew Against thyself, thyself far overfew To front yon multitudes of rebel scheming?_ Come, ye wild twenty years of heavenly dreaming! Come, ye wild weeks since first this canvas drew Out of vexed Palos ere the dawn was blue, O'er milky waves about the bows full-creaming! Come set me round with many faithful spears Of confident remembrance--how I crushed Cat-lived rebellions, pitfalled treasons, hushed Scared husbands' heart-break cries on distant wives, Made cowards blush at whining for their lives, Watered my parching souls, and dried their tears.

"Ere we Gomera cleared, a coward cried, _Turn, turn: here be three caravels ahead, From Portugal, to take us: we are dead!_-- Hold Westward, pilot, calmly I replied. So when the last land down the horizon died, Go back, go back! they prayed: our hearts are lead.-- Friends, we are bound into the West, I said. Then passed the wreck of a mast upon our side. See (so they wept) God's Warning! Admiral, turn!-- Steersman, I said, hold straight into the West. Then down the night we saw the meteor burn. _So do the very heavens in fire protest: Good Admiral, put about! O Spain, dear Spain!_-- Hold straight into the West, I said again.

"Next drive we o'er the slimy-weeded sea. Lo! here beneath (another coward cries) _The cursèd land of sunk Atlantis lies! This slime will suck us down--turn while thou'rt free!_-- But no! I said, Freedom bears West for me! Yet when the long-time stagnant winds arise, And day by day the keel to westward flies, My Good my people's Ill doth come to be: _Ever the winds into the West do blow; Never a ship, once turned, might homeward go; Meanwhile we speed into the lonesome main. For Christ's sake, parley, Admiral! Turn, before We sail outside all bounds of help from pain!_-- Our help is in the West, I said once more.

"So when there came a mighty cry of Land! And we clomb up and saw, and shouted strong Salve Regina! all the ropes along, But knew at morn how that a counterfeit band Of level clouds had aped a silver strand; So when we heard the orchard-bird's small song, And all the people cried, _A hellish throng To tempt us onward by the Devil planned, Yea, all from hell--keen heron, fresh green weeds, Pelican, tunny-fish, fair tapering reeds, Lie-telling lands that ever shine and die In clouds of nothing round the empty sky. Tired Admiral, get thee from this hell, and rest!_-- Steersman, I said, hold straight into the West.

"I marvel how mine eye, ranging the Night, From its big circling ever absently Returns, thou large low Star, to fix on thee. Maria! Star? No star: a Light, a Light! Wouldst leap ashore, Heart? Yonder burns--a Light. Pedro Gutierrez, wake! come up to me. I prithee stand and gaze about the sea: What seest? Admiral, like as land--a Light! Well! Sanchez of Segovia, come and try: What seest? Admiral, naught but sea and sky! Well! but I saw It. Wait! the Pinta's gun! Why, look, 'tis dawn, the land is clear: 'tis done! Two dawns do break at once from Time's full hand-- God's, East--mine, West: good friends, behold my Land!"

SIDNEY LANIER.

[2] From Poems by Sidney Lanier; copyright, 1884, 1891, by Mary D. Lanier; published by Charles Scribner's Sons.

At daybreak of Friday, October 12 (N. S. October 22), the boats were lowered and Columbus, with a large part of his company, went ashore, wild with exultation. They found that they were on a small island, and Columbus named it San Salvador. It was one of the Bahamas, but which one is not certainly known.

COLUMBUS

Behind him lay the gray Azores, Behind the Gates of Hercules; Before him not the ghost of shores, Before him only shoreless seas. The good mate said: "Now must we pray, For lo! the very stars are gone. Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say?" "Why, say 'Sail on! sail on! and on!'"

"My men grow mutinous day by day; My men grow ghastly wan, and weak." The stout mate thought of home; a spray Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek. "What shall I say, brave Admiral, say, If we sight naught but seas at dawn?" "Why, you shall say at break of day, 'Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!'"

They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow, Until at last the blanched mate said: "Why, now not even God would know Should I and all my men fall dead. These very winds forget their way, For God from these dread seas is gone. Now speak, brave Admiral, speak and say"-- He said: "Sail on! sail on! and on!"

They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate: "This mad sea shows his teeth to-night. He lifts his lip, he lies in wait, With lifted teeth, as if to bite! Brave Admiral, say but one good word: What shall we do when hope is gone?" The words leapt like a leaping sword: "Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!"

Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck, And peered through darkness. Ah, that night Of all dark nights! And then a speck-- A light! a light! a light! a light! It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! It grew to be Time's burst of dawn. He gained a world; he gave that world Its grandest lesson: "On! sail on!"

JOAQUIN MILLER.

Columbus reached Spain again on March 15, 1493, and at once sent word of his arrival to Ferdinand and Isabella, who were at Barcelona. He was summoned to appear before them and was received with triumphal honors. The King and Queen arose at his approach, directed him to seat himself in their presence, and listened with intense interest to his story of the voyage. When he had finished, they sank to their knees, as did all present, and thanked God for this mark of his favor.

THE THANKSGIVING FOR AMERICA

[Barcelona, April, 1493]

I

'Twas night upon the Darro. The risen moon above the silvery tower Of Comares shone, the silver sun of night, And poured its lustrous splendors through the halls Of the Alhambra. The air was breathless, Yet filled with ceaseless songs of nightingales, And odors sweet of falling orange blooms; The misty lamps were burning odorous oil; The uncurtained balconies were full of life, And laugh and song, and airy castanets And gay guitars. Afar Sierras rose, Domes, towers, and pinnacles, over royal heights, Whose crowns were gemmed with stars. The Generaliffe, The summer palace of old Moorish kings In vanished years, stood sentinel afar, A pile of shade, as brighter grew the moon, Impearling fountain sprays, and shimmering On seas of citron orchards cool and green, And terraces embowered with vernal vines And breathing flowers. In shadowy arcades Were loitering priests, and here and there A water-carrier passed with tinkling bells. There came a peal of horns That woke Granada, city of delights, From its long moonlight reverie. Again:-- The suave lute ceased to play, the castanet; The water-bearer stopped, and ceased his song The wandering troubadour. Then rent the air Another joyous peal, and oped the gates And entered there a train of cavaliers, Their helmets glittering in the low red moon, The streets and balconies All danced with wondering life. The train moved on, And filled the air again the horns melodious, And loud the heralds shouted:--

"_Thy name, O Fernando, through all earth shall be sounded, Columbus has triumphed, his foes are confounded!_"

A silence followed. Could such tidings be? Men heard and whispered, Eyes glanced to eyes, feet uncertain moved, Never on mortal ears had fallen words Like these. And was the earth a star? On marched the cavaliers, And pealed again the horns, and again cried The heralds:--

"_Thy name, Isabella, through all earth shall be sounded, Columbus has triumphed, his foes are confounded!_"

All hearts were thrilled. "Isabella!" That name breathed faith and hope And lofty aim. Emotion swayed the crowds: Tears flowed, and acclamations rose, and rushed The wondering multitudes toward the plaza. "Isabella! Isabella!" it filled The air--that one word "Isabella!" And now 'Tis noon of night. The moon hangs near the earth-- A golden moon in golden air; the peaks Like silver tents of shadowy sentinels Glint 'gainst the sky. The plaza gleams and surges Like a sea. The joyful horns peal forth again, And falls a hush, and cry the heralds:--

"_Thy name, Isabella, shall be praised by all the living; Haste, haste to Barcelona, and join the Great Thanksgiving!_"

What nights had seen Granada! Yet never one like this! The moon went down And fell the wings of shadow, yet the streets Still swarmed with people hurrying on and on.

II

Morn came, With bursts of nightingales and quivering fires. The cavaliers rode forth toward Barcelona. The city followed, throbbing with delight. The happy troubadour, the muleteer, The craftsmen all, the boy and girl, and e'en The mother--'twas a soft spring morn; The fairest skies of earth those April morns In Andalusia. Long was the journey, But the land was flowers and the nights were not, And birds sang all the hours, and breezes cool Fanned all the ways along the sea. The roads were filled With hurrying multitudes. For well 'twas known That he, the conqueror, viceroy of the isles, Was riding from Seville to meet the king. And what were conquerors before to him whose eye Had seen the world a star, and found the star a world? Once he had walked The self-same ways, roofless and poor and sad, A beggar at old convent doors, and heard The very children jeer him in the streets, And ate his crust and made his roofless bed Upon the flowers beside his boy, and prayed, And found in trust a pillow radiant With dreams immortal. Now?

III

That was a glorious day That dawned on Barcelona. Banners filled The thronging towers, the old bells rung, and blasts Of lordly trumpets seemed to reach the sky Cerulean. All Spain had gathered there, And waited there his coming; Castilian knights, Gay cavaliers, hidalgos young, and e'en the old Puissant grandees of far Aragon, With glittering mail, and waving plumes, and all The peasant multitude with bannerets And charms and flowers. Beneath pavilions Of brocades of gold, the Court had met. The dual crowns of Leon old and proud Castile There waited him, the peasant mariner. The trumpets waited Near the open gates; the minstrels young and fair Upon the tapestried and arrased walls, And everywhere from all the happy provinces The wandering troubadours. Afar was heard A cry, a long acclaim. Afar was seen A proud and stately steed with nodding plumes, Bridled with gold, whose rider stately rode, And still afar a long and sinuous train Of silvery cavaliers. A shout arose, And all the city, all the vales and hills, With silver trumpets rung. He came, the Genoese, With reverent look and calm and lofty mien, And saw the wondering eyes and heard the cries And trumpet peals, as one who followed still Some Guide unseen. Before his steed Crowned Indians marched with lowly faces, And wondered at the new world that they saw; Gay parrots shouted from their gold-bound arms, And from their crests swept airy plumes. The sun Shone full in splendor on the scene, and here The old and new world met. But--

IV

Hark! the heralds! How they thrill all hearts and fill all eyes with tears! The very air seems throbbing with delight; Hark! hark! they cry, in chorus all they cry:--

"_Á Castilla y á Leon, á Castilla y á Leon, Nuevo mundo dio Colon!_"

Every heart now beats with his, The stately rider on whose calm face shines A heaven-born inspiration. Still the shout: "Nuevo mundo dio Colon!" how it rings! From wall to wall, from knights and cavaliers, And from the multitudinous throngs, A mighty chorus of the vales and hills! "Á Castilla y á Leon!" And now the golden steed Draws near the throne; the crowds move back, and rise The reverent crowns of Leon and Castile; And stands before the tear-filled eyes of all The multitudes the form of Isabella. Semiramis? Zenobia? What were they To her, as met her eyes again the eyes of him Into whose hands her love a year before Emptied its jewels! He told his tale: The untried deep, the green Sargasso Sea, The varying compass, the affrighted crews, The hymn they sung on every doubtful eve, The sweet hymn to the Virgin. How there came The land birds singing, and the drifting weeds, How broke the morn on fair San Salvador, How the Te Deum on that isle was sung, And how the cross was lifted in the name Of Leon and Castile. And then he turned His face towards Heaven, "O Queen! O Queen! There kingdoms wait the triumphs of the cross!"

V

Then Isabella rose, With face illumined: then overcome with joy She sank upon her knees, and king and court And nobles rose and knelt beside her, And followed them the sobbing multitude; Then came a burst of joy, a chorus grand, And mighty antiphon--

"_We praise thee, Lord, and, Lord, acknowledge thee, And give thee glory!--Holy, Holy, Holy!_"

Loud and long it swelled and thrilled the air, That first Thanksgiving for the new-found world!

VI

The twilight roses bloomed In the far skies o'er Barcelona. The gentle Indians came and stood before The throne, and smiled the queen, and said: "I see my gems again." The shadow fell, And trilled all night beneath the moon and stars The happy nightingales.

HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH.

Royal favor is capricious and Columbus had his full share of enemies at court. These, in the end, succeeded in gaining the King's ear; Columbus was arrested in San Domingo and sent back to Spain in chains. Isabella ordered them struck off, and promised him that he should be reimbursed for his losses and restored to all his dignities; but the promise was never kept.

COLUMBUS IN CHAINS

[August, 1500]

Are these the honors they reserve for me, Chains for the man who gave new worlds to Spain! Rest here, my swelling heart!--O kings, O queens, Patrons of monsters, and their progeny, Authors of wrong, and slaves to fortune merely! Why was I seated by my prince's side, Honor'd, caress'd like some first peer of Spain? Was it that I might fall most suddenly From honor's summit to the sink of scandal? 'Tis done, 'tis done!--what madness is ambition! What is there in that little breath of men, Which they call Fame, that should induce the brave To forfeit ease and that domestic bliss Which is the lot of happy ignorance, Less glorious aims, and dull humility?-- Whoe'er thou art that shalt aspire to honor, And on the strength and vigor of the mind Vainly depending, court a monarch's favor, Pointing the way to vast extended empire; First count your pay to be ingratitude, Then chains and prisons, and disgrace like mine! Each wretched pilot now shall spread his sails, And treading in my footsteps, hail new worlds, Which, but for me, had still been empty visions.

PHILIP FRENEAU.

On November 7, 1504, Columbus landed in Spain after a fourth voyage to America, during which he had endured sufferings and privations almost beyond description. He was a broken man, and the last blow was the death of Isabella, nineteen days after he reached Seville. Her death left him without patron or protector, and the last eighteen months of his life were spent in sickness and poverty. He died at Valladolid, May 20, 1506.

COLUMBUS DYING

[May 20, 1506]

Hark! do I hear again the roar Of the tides by the Indies sweeping down? Or is it the surge from the viewless shore That swells to bear me to my crown? Life is hollow and cold and drear With smiles that darken and hopes that flee; And, far from its winds that faint and veer, I am ready to sail the vaster sea!

Lord, Thou knowest I love Thee best; And that scorning peril and toil and pain, I held my way to the mystic West, Glory for Thee and Thy Church to gain. And Thou didst lead me, only Thou, Cheering my heart in cloud and calm, Till the dawn my glad, victorious prow Greeted Thine isles of bloom and balm.

And then, O gracious, glorious Lord, I saw Thy face, and all heaven came nigh And my soul was lost in that rich reward, And ravished with hope of the bliss on high, So, I can meet the sovereign's frown-- My dear Queen gone--with a large disdain; For the time will come when his chief renown Will be that I sailed from his realm of Spain.

I have found new Lands--a World, maybe, Whose splendor will yet the Old outshine; And life and death are alike to me, For earth will honor, and heaven is mine Is mine!--What songs of sweet accord! What billows that nearer, gentler roll! Is mine!--Into Thy hands, O Lord, Into Thy hands I give my soul!

EDNA DEAN PROCTOR.

COLUMBUS

Give me white paper! This which you use is black and rough with smears Of sweat and grime and fraud and blood and tears, Crossed with the story of men's sins and fears, Of battle and of famine all these years, When all God's children had forgot their birth, And drudged and fought and died like beasts of earth.

"Give me white paper!" One storm-trained seaman listened to the word; What no man saw he saw; he heard what no man heard. In answer he compelled the sea To eager man to tell The secret she had kept so well! Left blood and guilt and tyranny behind,-- Sailing still West the hidden shore to find; For all mankind that unstained scroll unfurled, Where God might write anew the story of the World.

EDWARD EVERETT HALE.

COLUMBUS AND THE MAYFLOWER

O little fleet! that on thy quest divine Sailedst from Palos one bright autumn morn, Say, has old Ocean's bosom ever borne A freight of faith and hope to match with thine?

Say, too, has Heaven's high favor given again Such consummation of desire as shone About Columbus when he rested on The new-found world and married it to Spain?

Answer,--thou refuge of the freeman's need,-- Thou for whose destinies no kings looked out, Nor sages to resolve some mighty doubt,-- Thou simple Mayflower of the salt-sea mead!

When thou wert wafted to that distant shore, Gay flowers, bright birds, rich odors met thee not, Stern Nature hailed thee to a sterner lot,-- God gave free earth and air, and gave no more.

Thus to men cast in that heroic mould Came empire such as Spaniard never knew, Such empire as beseems the just and true; And at the last, almost unsought, came gold.

But He who rules both calm and stormy days, Can guard that people's heart, that nation's health, Safe on the perilous heights of power and wealth, As in the straitness of the ancient ways.

LORD HOUGHTON.