University of Virginia Library

Tradition told him that, in ancient time,
Sky, sun, and sea, were all the universe:
The sun grew tired of gazing on the sea
Day after day; then, with descending beams,
Day after day he pierced the dark abyss
Till he had reach'd its diamantine floor,—
Whence he drew up an island; as a tree
Grows in the desert from some random seed
Dropt by a wild bird. Grain by grain it rose,
And touch'd at length the surface; there expanding
Beneath the fostering influence of his eye,
Prolific seasons, light, and showers, and dew,
Aided by earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanos,
(All agents of the universal sun,)
Conspired to form, advance, enrich, and break
The level reef, till hills and dales appear'd,
And the small isle became a continent,
Whose bounds his ancestors had never traced.
Thither in time, by means inscrutable,
Plants, animals, and man himself, were brought;
And with the idolaters the gods they served.
These tales tradition told him: he believed,
Though all were fables, yet they shadow'd truth;
That truth, with heart, soul, mind, and strength, he sought.
O 'twas a spectacle for angels, bound
On embassies of mercy to this earth,
To gaze on with compassion and delight,—
Yea, with desire that they might be his helpers,—
To see a dark endungeon'd spirit roused,
And struggling into glorious liberty,
Though Satan's legions watch'd at every portal,
And held him by ten thousand manacles!