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Home  »  The Book of New York Verse  »  Starr Hoyt Nichols

Hamilton Fish Armstrong, ed. The Book of New York Verse. 1917.

The Columbus Parade, 1893

Starr Hoyt Nichols

HUGE warships of all nations side by side,

Oarless and sailless, heedless of the breeze

Drive their colossal prow with conquering ease

Against the thrusting of an adverse tide;

And ’mid them three curved caravels—the pride

Of bold Columbus, when he clove the seas,

The windy sport of what storm-gods might please,

Seeking strange ports where keel did never ride,

Yet these leviathans are proud to dip

Their bright flags to the pigmy counterpart

Of his slight ships; and from the flame-wreathed lip

Of thundering cannon cheer his dauntless heart.

Greater than Cæsar’s fortunes carried well

The fragile oak of Christopher’s caravel.