4. Look up "impearled" in an unabridged dictionary. What is the meaning here?

5. What is "the song from afar"?

6. In what way has this song swept over the world?

7. In what sense do we "rejoice in the light"?

8. Why does the poet say the song still comes down?

9. Why "through the night"?

10. What is an evangel?

11. Why is the word King capitalized in the last line and not before?

12. How may we "echo the song"?

REFERENCES

LOWELL: A Christmas Carol.

LONGFELLOW: The Three Kings. Christmas Bells.
WHITTIER: A Christmas Carmen. Star of Bethlehem.
SOUTHWELL: The Burning Babe.

MILTON: Hymn to the Nativity.

TENNYSON: Birth of Christ.

SIR JOHN BOWRING: What of the Night?

DOMMETT: A Christmas Hymn.

THRING: Hymn for the Nativity.

BOLTON: The Shepherd's Song.

A. W. MORRIS: A Christmas Carol.
RYAN: A Christmas Carol.

FIELD: Christmas Eve.

SEARS: Christmas Hymn.
WESLEY: Christmas Hymn.
BROOKS: A Christmas Carol.
ROSSETTI: A Christmas Carol.
A. CARY: A Christmas Story.

K. D. WIGGIN: The Glad Evangel.

TATE: While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night.
RILEY: Das Krist Kindel.

WILLIAM REED DUNROY: Bethlehem.

STEVENSON: Christmas at Sea.

NOTE: For a complete volume of Christmas literature, see R. H Schaulfler. Christmas. Moffat, Yard and Co., N. Y., 1907.

E

COLUMBUS

JOAQUIN MILLER

VERY one is familiar with the simple story of the

life and voyages of Columbus. But few of us today appreciate his "struggle of faith, patience, and wisdom against superstition, jealousy, and ignorance.” Filled with the current idea of expert geographers, Columbus believed the earth to be a globe, and that the rich ports of India and the East could best be reached by sailing westward. With no idea of discovering new lands, but with a firm determination to find a shorter route to the Indies, to carry the Catholic faith to the nations of the East, and to gain for himself fame and fortune, Columbus set out on his memorable voyage. He believed himself, as he wrote in his diary, "an agent chosen by Heaven to accomplish a grand design."

With faith in his compass and astrolabe, and resting securely on the Toscanelli chart to guide him safely to the East Indies, he set sail westward August 3, 1492. Day after day and no land sighted, the sailors losing heart cried out, "Are there no graves in Spain that you should bring us here to perish?" Terrified by variations of the compass, homesick and discouraged, these sailors mutinied and even threatened to throw their leader overboard, but Columbus held firmly to his purpose, declaring stoutly that, "however much they might complain, he had to go to the Indies, and that he would go on until he found them, with the help of our Lord."

THE TOSCANELLI CHART (Simplified)

(Used by Columbus as a basis of voyages. Scale: One thousand miles to the inch.)

Finally, on October 12, land was discovered, Columbus landed on the low sandy shore of a small island, planted there the royal standard of Spain, named the island San Salvador, or the Holy Redeemer, and took possession in the name of Ferdinand and Isabella. Three subsequent voyages confirmed the faith of the great discoverer, and he died in the unshaken belief that he had discovered a western route to Asia, never dreaming that he had discovered a "new world," nor that he had given birth to a new era in the history of the world's great civilization.

In the following poem, the poet has contrasted vividly the seeming hopelessness of the voyage with unmovable determination and singleness of purpose. The mate as spokesman of the crew represents the utter dejection, discouragement, and hopelessness of the crew. The Admiral with his confident "On! sail on!" represents the sturdy faith and relentless persistence of a great discoverer whose life was shaped by what he felt was God's call to service.

*

COLUMBUS *

Behind him lay the gray Azores,
Behind the Gates of Hercules;
Before him not the ghosts of shores,
Before him only shoreless seas.
The good mate said: "Now must we pray,
For lo! the very stars are gone.

Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say?"
"Why, say, 'Sail on! sail on! and on!'"

Copyrighted by Whitaker & Ray-Wiggin Co., San Francisco, and used by special permission of the publishers.

"My men grow mutinous day by day;
My men grow ghastly wan and weak."
The stout mate thought of home; a spray
Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek.
"What shall I say, brave Admiral, say,
If we sight naught but seas at dawn?"
"Why, you shall say at break of day,
'Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!""

They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow,
Until at last the blanched mate said:
"Why, now not even God would know
Should I and all my men fall dead.
These very winds forget their way,

For God from these dread seas is gone, Now speak, brave Admiral, speak and say He said: "Sail on! sail on! and on!"

They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate: "This mad sea shows his teeth to-night.

He curls his lip, he lies in wait,
With lifted teeth, as if to bite!
Brave Admiral, say but one good word:
What shall we do when hope is gone?"
The words leapt like a leaping sword:
"Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!"

Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck,
And peered through darkness. Ah, that night
Of all dark nights! And then a speck-
A light! A light! A light! A light!

It grew, a starlit flag unfurled!

It grew to be Time's burst of dawn. He gained a world; he gave that world Its grandest lesson: "On! sail on!"