 | The epic of Columbus' bell and other poems |  |
THE EPIC OF COLUMBUS' BELL.
For the following history of the bell I am indebted
to Mr. George W. McCowan, proprietor
of the “Pioneer,” of Bridgeton, N. J., who kindly
furnished me with it by letter, together with his
comment thereon:—
THE COLUMBUS BELL.
“In the year 1492 (January) the war between
the Crescent and the Cross culminated in the
capture of Granada by Ferdinand and Isabella.
The famous mosque of the Alhambra was transformed
into a Christian temple, and from its lofty
towers, instead of the ‘Murran of Islam’ calling
the faithful to prayers, those pious monarchs
caused this bell, with several others, to be cast
and placed there for calling their meek and lowly
followers to matins and vespers.
“A few years afterwards Queen Isabella presented
this bell to Columbus upon his departure
to America on his fourth and last voyage (1502),
and by him it was donated to the pious brothers
who placed it in the chapel, which was the beginning
of the great cathedral of Carthagena on
the Spanish Main (in New Granada, South
America). There it performed its holy mission
until the great raid and siege of Carthagena by
the buccaneers, in 1697, when the city was sacked
and partially destroyed.
“In the division of the spoils the bell fell to
the share of the French ship ‘La Rochelle,’ and
for a short period did duty in the humble service
of a ship's bell for the piratical crew. But
retribution was close after the vandals, for in the
latter part of the same year, during one of the
most furious hurricanes that ever swept the seas,
the piratical squadron was nearly annihilated,
The ‘La Rochelle’ was totally wrecked on the
island of San Andreas. A few of the crew were
saved, together with the bell.
“From the descendants of the survivors the bell
and its history were obtained by Captain Newall,
of the bark ‘Eva H. Fisk,’ of Haleyville, N. J.
By him it was donated to the new African M. E.
Church, of that place. The chapel to which
Columbus donated the bell may have been established
a year or two before he visited Carthagena,
as the whole of that coast was at that time called.
Some of the adventurers who had sailed with
Columbus on his first and second voyages had
left him on their return to Spain, and the wonderful
reports brought of the rich treasures of
the new world made it easy for them to procure
vessels and men with which to sail on their own
account. They had, between 1492 and 1502,
traversed and explored the greater part of the
Caribbean Sea, and touched upon the shores of
the mainland.
“One of these adventurers, says Irving, had
traversed the coasts of Carthagena and attempted
to (and probably did) make a settlement there
in 1501; they found that the natives had already
been so badly treated by the white men that they
were suspicious of them. The City of Carthagena
was founded in 1533. The cathedral of
Carthagena is noted for its magnificent marble
pulpit.
“The bell, of which we give a correct picture,
is of small size, but of superior quality of metals;
no such bronze is used nowadays. From its
color and nature and the purity of its tone it
appears to have a large percentage of silver. All
bronze is an alloy of copper, zinc and silver in
varying proportions. Its weight is 64 pounds;
its outside diameter at the top is 8 inches; inside
diameter at the top 6 3/4; inches, making the thickness
of the metal at the top about 5/8 of an inch;
the diameter at the mouth is 14 3/4; inches; the
thickness of the metal at the sound bow or rim
where the clapper strikes is 7/8 of an inch; its
height is 11 inches, and the length of the clapper
is 11 inches, exclusive of the staple to which it is
attached; its tone is clear and echoing.
“There is a small debt of 190.00 on the
church, and so highly do the people value their
relic—The Columbus Bell—that they will not
suspend it upon the church lest by some mishap
the church be sold for debt, and they lose the
bell, but it is securely kept at the residence of
Trustee Alfred Green.”
For the following history of the bell I am indebted to Mr. George W. McCowan, proprietor of the “Pioneer,” of Bridgeton, N. J., who kindly furnished me with it by letter, together with his comment thereon:—
“In the year 1492 (January) the war between the Crescent and the Cross culminated in the capture of Granada by Ferdinand and Isabella. The famous mosque of the Alhambra was transformed into a Christian temple, and from its lofty towers, instead of the ‘Murran of Islam’ calling the faithful to prayers, those pious monarchs caused this bell, with several others, to be cast and placed there for calling their meek and lowly followers to matins and vespers.
“A few years afterwards Queen Isabella presented this bell to Columbus upon his departure to America on his fourth and last voyage (1502), and by him it was donated to the pious brothers who placed it in the chapel, which was the beginning of the great cathedral of Carthagena on the Spanish Main (in New Granada, South America). There it performed its holy mission until the great raid and siege of Carthagena by the buccaneers, in 1697, when the city was sacked and partially destroyed.
“In the division of the spoils the bell fell to the share of the French ship ‘La Rochelle,’ and for a short period did duty in the humble service of a ship's bell for the piratical crew. But retribution was close after the vandals, for in the latter part of the same year, during one of the most furious hurricanes that ever swept the seas, the piratical squadron was nearly annihilated, The ‘La Rochelle’ was totally wrecked on the island of San Andreas. A few of the crew were saved, together with the bell.
“From the descendants of the survivors the bell and its history were obtained by Captain Newall, of the bark ‘Eva H. Fisk,’ of Haleyville, N. J. By him it was donated to the new African M. E. Church, of that place. The chapel to which Columbus donated the bell may have been established a year or two before he visited Carthagena, as the whole of that coast was at that time called. Some of the adventurers who had sailed with Columbus on his first and second voyages had left him on their return to Spain, and the wonderful reports brought of the rich treasures of the new world made it easy for them to procure vessels and men with which to sail on their own account. They had, between 1492 and 1502, traversed and explored the greater part of the Caribbean Sea, and touched upon the shores of the mainland.
“One of these adventurers, says Irving, had traversed the coasts of Carthagena and attempted to (and probably did) make a settlement there in 1501; they found that the natives had already been so badly treated by the white men that they were suspicious of them. The City of Carthagena was founded in 1533. The cathedral of Carthagena is noted for its magnificent marble pulpit.
“The bell, of which we give a correct picture, is of small size, but of superior quality of metals; no such bronze is used nowadays. From its color and nature and the purity of its tone it appears to have a large percentage of silver. All bronze is an alloy of copper, zinc and silver in varying proportions. Its weight is 64 pounds; its outside diameter at the top is 8 inches; inside diameter at the top 6 3/4; inches, making the thickness of the metal at the top about 5/8 of an inch; the diameter at the mouth is 14 3/4; inches; the thickness of the metal at the sound bow or rim where the clapper strikes is 7/8 of an inch; its height is 11 inches, and the length of the clapper is 11 inches, exclusive of the staple to which it is attached; its tone is clear and echoing.
“There is a small debt of 190.00 on the church, and so highly do the people value their relic—The Columbus Bell—that they will not suspend it upon the church lest by some mishap the church be sold for debt, and they lose the bell, but it is securely kept at the residence of Trustee Alfred Green.”
I
Listen to the Poet's storyOf an ancient bell,
Freighted with its wreaths of glory,
With its fate as well:
On Alhambra's mosque it hung,
The Alhambra formed a citadel or acropolis to the city of Granada, Spain. It contained the palace of the ancient Moorish Kings and a mosque or Mohammedan temple of worship. On the subversion of the Moorish Kingdom by the combined forces of Arragon and Castile, in January, 1492, it was partly destroyed by the invading victorious Spanish armies.
And the music that it rung
With an oscillating tongue,
Sounded through the Moorish citadel.
II
All the watch within the city,Startled at the call,
Muster as the shrilly ditty
Thrills the stony hall;
But the ring of wild despair,
From the minaret in air,
Urging guards to man the castle wall.
III
At the gates of proud Granada,Fired by Passion's flame,
Islam and the fierce Crusader
Strove in field of Fame;
How the Crescent's waning light
Watched Alhambra's tower'd height!
But Castile's undaunted knight
Raised his banner there with loud acclaim.
IV
While a truce was intervening,Sweetly rose the chime,
As there was a Christian meaning
In the beating time;
Acting under martial force,
Changed the fane's religious course,
At the sweetest hour—the hour of prime.
V
There the bell had served its missionFreighted with renown,
Sounding still a sweet transition
O'er the Moorish town;
But the chivalry of Spain,
Scaled that precipice again,
And, with awful might and main,
Brought the brazen trophy safely down.
VI
Round its shape a wreath of chacingRose with wondrous art,
Labyrinths of vines were tracing
O'er the middle part;
There the tender tendrils hold,
There the buds their bloom foretold,
There the sweetest odors seem to start!
VII
Now a sturdy bough was wrestedFrom the living beech,
Which, of leaf and branch divested,
Looked of longer reach;
In its middle this was graced,
With the bell securely laced,
Then on brawny shoulders placed,
When its silence woke in tuneful speech.
VIII
Thus they bore the bell on shouldersFrom the martial scene,
While the gathering beholders
Gazed with wond'ring mien;
March the pride of Spanish state,
Where, with pomp and speech elate,
They present the trophy to their queen.
IX
But there was a new ordeal,Whither Fate's decree,
Drew the bell of Casa Real,
Irresistibly.—
So, when to Departure's wind,
Did Columbus' sails unbind,
This to him, the queen consign'd,
For his latest voyage o'er the sea.
X
On the Spanish Main protectedThe Spanish Main (i. e., mainland, in contradistinction to Spanish West Indies), a name formerly applied to the north coast of South America, washed by the Caribbean Sea. This coast was the rendezvous of many piratical expeditions in the 16th and 17th Centuries. These pirate ships preyed upon the merchant vessels sailing the sea, and sacked the towns along the coast.
By the sounding wave,
Stood a shady grove selected
For the wealth it gave;
Plied his gainful trade with care,
Here a chapel rose, and here
Peaceful dwelt the noble Carib brave.
XI
On this shore Columbus landedWith the sacred bell,
Which the ready sailors handed
From the caravel,
While its music rose once more,
Breaking o'er the shelly shore,
Mingling with the breaker's roar,
Then resolving on the dying swell.
XII
Now a sailor, unassisted,Made a handy rope,
Of some sea-grass intertwisted
Into ample scope;
This he drew with conscious pride,
Lapt it round, and firmly tied,
Leaving at the top the needed loop.
XIII
Thus prepared, the bell was liftedFrom the sea-beat sand,
From the tangled sea-weed drifted
O'er the pebbly strand,
To the bluff, the beech along,
Where a jutting rock o'erhung,
Whence the leafless cactus sprung
Into beauty at Dame Nature's hand.
XIV
Straightway to the chapel, sprightly,They pursued their way,
With the relic pealing lightly
Out its ancient lay;
Placed it on the chapel's height,
Where it was a welcome sight,
To the monk on that eventful day.
XV
There its sacred numbers soundedWith a silver chime,
Till two centuries had bounded
Through the course of Time;
Till the Caribs met the fate,
Which no pen can e'er relate,
Nor the tongue enumerate
Half the horrors of the bloody crime:
XVI
Till the ax of the invaderFelled the timbers down,
And the hamlet of the trader
Rose a thrifty town;
Hewn from living rock entire,
At the pious priest's desire,
Gave the bell a place of more renown.
XVII
Then was Carthagena humbledBy a pirate fleet,
With her pillaged buildings crumbled
To the dusty street;
What time they with flaming brand,
Burnt the city on the strand,
And, with reach of impious hand,
Seized the bell upon its sacred seat.
XVIII
Thence their steps the vandals measureBack without delay,
With the captured bell, the treasure
Of the dauntless day;
They unfurl'd their ample sail,
Fate was lurking on the trail,
Of the bark which bore the bell away.
XIX
For a while its summons soundedOn the ship afloat,
And the answering watches bounded
At the echoed note;
But this sacrilegious turn,
Heaven's eye did well discern,
When, with indignation stern,
Venging seas pursued the guilty boat.
XX
It was night, a mystic feelingHung upon the hour,
Dark portentous clouds were stealing
Round with sullen lour;
Then the crescent moon retired,
When an instant flash was fired,
Lighting up the sea by heavenly pow'r.
XXI
Suddenly the storm impendingBursts upon the deep,
Southern winds, amain descending,
O'er the waters sweep;
First the surface ruffles o'er,
Then the bigger billows roar,
Rolling to San Andreas' shore,
Where they dash against the rocky steep.
XXII
Andreas is an isle delightful,Circling round whose strand,
Carribea washes sprightful
O'er the bleaching sand;
Verdant fields are ever green,
Blooming Beauty strows the scene,
And her fragrance is upon the land.
XXIII
Thitherto the bark was driven,By the winds away,
Cast upon the beach, and given
To the billow's play;
When, as far's the eye could ken,
Arms, sails, spoils and struggling men
Drifted on the surges, then
Disappeared beneath the splashing spray.
XXIV
Soon as Morn, with purple brightness,Paints the billow's crest,
(As the momentary whiteness
Curls upon its breast),
View the beaten vessel's breach,
And, with penitence, beseech
Heaven's aid, for Heaven they confest.
XXV
Neither was the hush unbrokenOf the morning air,
For a mystic note had spoken
Tones of sad despair;
Not the requiem of waves,
Where the rolling water laves,
Holding mass upon the graves,
Of the dead beneath its surface there:
XXVI
'Twas a sweeter intonation,With a plaintive swell,
Solemn as the replication
Of a fun'ral knell;
Verberating far and wide,
While the answering bluff replied;
'Twas the tocsin of Columbus' Bell!
XXVII
Meantime from the isle, attractedBy the rising strain,
Natives view'd the scene enacted
There upon the main;
Saw the sunken ship in sight
Scarce above the water's height.
And the pirates in their plight
Ringing out the fated bell's refrain.
XXVIII
Quickly to the rescue hastenedAn experienced crew,
With a surf-boat, which, unfastened,
From the shore withdrew,
Bounding with the lightest ease,
As a leaflet in the breeze,
Till arriving at the wreck in view.
XXIX
There the work of rescue tarriedNot till every hand,
Of surviving ones was carried
Safely to the land;
Not until their joys were crown'd,
With the Bell upon the ground,
Making heaven and earth resound,
Of its rescue on the stormy strand.
XXX
Now the air became sonorousWith rejoicing songs,
By a merry-making chorus
Of a thousand tongues,
With the instrumental chime;
And the music rose sublime,
Where the minstrels gathered round in throngs.
XXXI
And they gaze with admirationOn the molten art,
While a feeling of elation
Swells their every heart;
While a touch of Fancy's hue
Paints the thrilling scene anew,
With the pirate wreck in view,
And the surf-boat ready to depart.
XXXII
On the shore, with mist surrounding,Rose a mammoth rock,
Pounding which, the surge, rebounding,
Sent a frightful shock;
High above the beaten track,
Of the billow's fierce attack,
Stood a lighthouse made of granite block.
XXXIII
Thither gaily went the people,With the rescued prize,
Where the tower, like a steeple,
Reaches to the skies;
There, when Evening's gates unbar,
Shines the beacon light afar,
Twinkling like the bright North-star,
And as grateful to the sailor's eyes.
XXXIV
There a rounded dome extendedO'er the circled hall,
Where Columbus' Bell, suspended,
Overlooked the wall;
Wrapt in mist upon the tide,
There the warning was supplied,
Echoed from the tower to them all.
XXXV
And the listening breakers wonderAt the melody,
Whilst their deep-resounding thunder
Beats eternally;
But when numbered with the past,
Two long ages rolled at last,
There appeared the rising mast
Of a Yankee bark upon the sea.
XXXVI
Veering landward, it was ableSoon to reach the shore,
Where, with many a line of cable,
They their vessel moor;
Leaping ankle-deep in sand,
Stood the first upon the strand,
Mingling with the folks he met afore.
XXXVII
Him a welcoming ovation,Greeted of his friends,
When a shout of exultation
Suddenly attends,
Noising o'er the blue profound
And the pebbly beach around,
Where it dies a whisper'd sound,
As another merry shout ascends.
XXXVIII
Now, at last, the bell was takenFrom the lighthouse dome,
Other foreign shores to waken,
Other seas to roam;
Was the treasured bell convey'd,
And upon his vessel laid,
When, at once, they spread their sails for home.
XXXIX
'Twas the sweetest hour of vesper,When, with golden ray,
Does the heavenly sheen of Hesper
Light the traveler's way;
And the Pleiades arise,
Brightly glowing in the skies,
Pleasing to our wakeful eyes;
And the moon, new-risen, shone as day.
XL
Forth the bark, o'er depths eternal,Bounds with graceful ease,
Wafted onward by the vernal
Incense-bearing breeze,
Thirteen times his course had run,
When his next revolving one
Showed New Jersey's coast o'erwashed by seas.
XLI
Soon the bark had reached its landingOn the welcome shore,
Where, with transport, Newall, standing,
Views the prospect o'er;
While the sailors with the bell
Trudge thro' seadrift, sand and shell,
Till they pull the present well
On the bank above old Ocean's roar.
XLII
Far from sea, there sits a villageFlanked by sun-lit fields,
Where, through industry, the tillage
Plentiful harvests yields;
Unto which the saints repair,
And, with holy hymn and pray'r,
Sweetly praise Him who His people shields.
XLIII
Thitherward, the sailors, marching,Took the bell away,
Through a wood that, densely arching,
Intercepts the ray;
Where the spreading eglantine
Tangles with the columbine,
As, together, they resign
To the wood the sweetness of the day:
XLIV
Where the hunting horn resoundedThrough the sylvan scene,
As the stag, upstarting, bounded
From the bramble-screen,
Whose warm panting breath he feels,
Till his pace the rifle steals,
When he falls upon the trampled green:
XLV
Where the gay-plumed birds, resorting,Wake the woodland air,
Or, in heavenly fields disporting,
Flood their warbling there;
Whilst, below, the streamlets stray,
Tinkling on their seaward way,
And in dimpled eddies play,
O'er the smooth-worn pebbles everywhere.
XLVI
Thence through meadows, sweet with flowers,They their path pursue,
Where the verdure, drenched with showers,
Glistened to the view;
Cropped the mead till eventide,
Or, about, with buxom stride,
Gamboled where the crimson clover blew.
XLVII
Next where cultured fields, extending,Bathed in sunlight sheen,
Passed the weary sailors, wending
Through the spring-time scene;
There the plowman's cheerful song
Echoed in the fields among,
Thence, on airy wings, along
Through the vista fair of woodlands green.
XLVIII
Now, to Haleyville, rejoicing,Came the sailor train,
With the bell their entrance voicing
In a loud refrain;
Unto Bethel chapel door,
In such numbers as before,
Never gathered at the holy fane.
XLIX
Charming maids in all the glory,Sweet of blooming prime,
Youth and he whose locks grew hoary
At the hand of Time,
Mothers, romping children—all
Answered the resounding call,
To the consecrated hall,
With a promptitude that was sublime.
L
Fame, fair herald, in preceding,Had, with trumpet blare,
Sent the pleasing message speeding
Through the village air;
Heard, and answered back the sound,
That Columbus' Bell was bound
For the village chapel standing there.
LI
Now had Phoebus down the heavenRolled his rapid car,
And unbarred the gates of even
To the vesper star,
When the trusted sailor train,
With the bell without a stain,
Reached the little Christian fane,
From the ship which brought them from afar.
LII
It was here the presentationOf the bell was made,
To the waiting congregation,
In the twilight shade;
Told of hearts all gratitude,
When the captain's gift they view'd,
On the chapel door-stone where it laid.
LIII
And the faithful sexton, climbingUp the winding stair,
With the present, hung it, chiming,
In the belfry, there;
Where the stout-made crossbeam stood,
New hewn out the oak tree's wood,
That, erst, in the neighborhood,
Grew the tallest in the sunlit-air.
LIV
There its lofty notes, with meetness,Gladful tidings tell,
When we feel a kindred sweetness
In our bosom swell;
Come to worship with a bound,
As they hear the sacred sound,
Pealing from the old Columbus Bell.
| The epic of Columbus' bell and other poems | |