Ah! it is joy to watch the spark divine,
To feel it struck, as thought encounters thought!
What deep, exulting happiness was thine,
When to thine aid long-hidden lore was brought,
And thou, Columbus! didst believe the skies
Stooped down to nerve thee for thy high emprise!
’Twas well thou hadst the witness in thine heart,
Or thou hadst fainted in thy weary way;
Though hope “deferred,” though anguish were thy part,
Faith shed a halo round thee day by day.