THERE was an Indian, who had known no change, Who strayed content along a sunlit beach Gathering shells. He heard a sudden strange Commingled noise; looked up; and gasped for speech. For in the bay, where nothing was before, Moved on the sea, by magic, huge canoes, With bellying cloths on poles, and not one oar, And fluttering coloured signs and clambering crews. And he, in fear, this naked man alone, His fallen hands forgetting all their shells, His lips gone pale, knelt low behind a stone, And stared, and saw, and did not understand, Columbus's doom-burdened caravels Slant to the shore, and all their seamen land. Her sails were brown and ragged, And her crew hollow-eyed, But their silent lips spoke content And their shoulders pride; Though she had no captives on her deck, And in her hold There were no heaps of corn or timber Or silks or gold. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EPITAPH IN BALLADE FORM by FRANCOIS VILLON THE DEFILED SANCTUARY by WILLIAM BLAKE ELEGY ON THYRZA by GEORGE GORDON BYRON HUGH SELWYN MAUBERLEY: 7. 'SIENA MI FE' by EZRA POUND A SHADOW OF THE NIGHT by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |