of Darkness) have more
effectually prevented the progress of the Faith, than by desolating
the New World; by burying nations alive in mines, or consigning them
in all their errors to the sword. Relacion de B. de las Casas.]

[Footnote 7: Not man alone, but many other animals became extinct
there.]

[Footnote 8: P. Martyr, dec. iii. c. 7.]

[Footnote 9: Rochefort. c. xx. p. 559.]

CANTO XII.
A Vision.

Still would I speak of Him before I went,
Who among us a life of sorrow spent, [u]
And, dying, left a world his monument;
Still, if the time allow'd! My Hour draws near;
But He will prompt me when I faint with fear.
---Alas, He hears me not! He cannot hear!

* * * * *

Twice the Moon fill'd her silver urn with light.
Then from the Throne an Angel wing'd his flight;
He, who unfix'd the compass, and assign'd
O'er the wild waves a pathway to the wind;
Who, while approach'd by none but Spirits pure,
Wrought, in his progress thro' the dread obscure,
Signs like the ethereal bow--that shall endure! [Footnote 1]
Before the great Discoverer, laid to rest,
He stood, and thus his secret soul address'd. [Footnote 2]
"The wind recalls thee; its still voice obey.
Millions await thy coming; hence, away.
To thee blest tidings of great joy consign'd,
Another Nature, and a new Mankind!
The vain to dream, the wise to doubt shall cense;
Young men be glad, and old depart in peace! [Footnote 3]
Hence! tho' assembling in the fields of air,
Now, in a night of clouds, thy Foes prepare
To rock the globe with elemental wars,
And dash the floods of ocean to the stars; [Footnote 4]
To bid the meek repine, the valiant weep,
And Thee restore thy Secret to the Deep! [Footnote 5]
Not then to leave Thee! to their vengeance cast,
Thy heart their aliment, their dire repast! [Footnote 6]
To other eyes shall MEXICO unfold
Her feather'd tapestries, [Footnote 7] and roofs of gold.
To other eyes, from distant cliff descried, [x]
Shall the PACIFIC roll his ample tide.
Chains thy reward! beyond the ATLANTIC wave
Hung in thy chamber, buried in thy grave! [y]
Thy reverend form [z] to time and grief a prey,
A phantom wandering in the light of day!
What tho' thy grey hairs to the dust descend,
Their scent shall track thee, track thee to the end; [Footnote 8]
Thy sons reproach'd with their great father's fame,
And on his world inscrib'd another's name!
That world a prison-house, full of sights of woe,
Where groans b