 | Ochil Idylls and Other Poems |  |
104
THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
All the mill-horses of Europe
Were plodding round and round;
All the mills were droning
The same old sound.
Were plodding round and round;
All the mills were droning
The same old sound.
The drivers were dozing, the millers
Were deaf—as millers will be;
When, startling them all, without warning
Came a great shout from the sea!
Were deaf—as millers will be;
When, startling them all, without warning
Came a great shout from the sea!
It startled them all. The horses,
Lazily plodding round,
Started and stopp'd; and the mills dropp'd
Like a mantle their sound.
Lazily plodding round,
Started and stopp'd; and the mills dropp'd
Like a mantle their sound.
The millers look'd over their shoulders,
The drivers open'd their eyes:
A silence, deeper than deafness,
Had fallen out of the skies.
The drivers open'd their eyes:
A silence, deeper than deafness,
Had fallen out of the skies.
105
“Halloa there!”—this time distinctly
It rose from the barren sea;
And Europe, turning in wonder,
Whisper'd, “What can it be?”
It rose from the barren sea;
And Europe, turning in wonder,
Whisper'd, “What can it be?”
“Come down, come down to the shore here!'
And Europe was soon on the sand;—
It was the great Columbus
Dragging his prize to land.
And Europe was soon on the sand;—
It was the great Columbus
Dragging his prize to land.
| Ochil Idylls and Other Poems | |