Columbus and His Voyages

124 THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY For I, poor girl, was working within, Holding my distaff heavy and full, ... Weaving an excellent bobbin of wool. But he 'to the blue upflew, upflew, On the lightliest tips of his wings outspread; To me he bequeathed but woe, but woe, And tears, sad tcars from my eyes o'crflow, Which I, the bereaved, must shed, must shed.': And yet, in spite of all these faults, in spite of his love of effect, his tendency to tear a passion to tatters, and the artificiality which (pace Professor Grube) is to be found in many of his works, how great a poet he remains t Even in the conversation passages the lyrical vein shines forth again and again: o lovely is the sunlight, And fair the dancing sea, And fair the earth when flowers awake In springtime, fair the brimming JakeYea many things there be That fill the heart with gladness, But fairest thing of aU That lonely hearts yearn after, The light of children's laughter Ringing from floor to rafter In the once empty hal\.3 Much of his best work will stand the test of constant re-reading; and he has found in Professor Grube a real champion, who does not seek to acquit him of all faults,but dispels many of the errors of criticism which have obscured and dimmed his lustre. Classical scholars will be grateful indeed for so searching and sympathetic a study. . 'Translated by B. B. Rogers. 'Version by Denis Turner. COLUMBUS AND HIS VOYAGES' LAWRENCE J. BURPEE Samuel Eliot Morison, Professor of History at Harvard, sometime Professor of American History at Oxford, and author of several important contributions to the history of the United States, has now written what, one imagines, must remain the definitive story of Christopher Columbus and his four voyages.· AdmiraloJ the Ouan S~a : A Life oj Christopher Columbus, by SAMUEL E LI OT MOR ISON. Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1942, $4.50. REVIEWS 125 Indeed it is difficult to see what, apart from inevitable points of controversy, remains to be said on the subject. Following the example of Francis Parkman, Mr Morison prepared himself for his task-quite evidently a congenial task-by not only studying all the available records of the life of the explorer, but also sailing his courses across the Atlantic and around the Caribbean, in small craft, under conditions as close as now practicable to those of the latter part of the fifteenth century. Brushing aside the interminable literature on the "Columbus Question," who he was and where he came from, with the comment that "there is no more reason to doubt that Christopher Columbus was a Genoese-born Catholic Christian, steadfast in his faith and proud of his native city, than to doubt that George Washington was a Virginian-born Anglican of English race, proud of being an American," Mr Morison mak~s it clear that his main concern is with the Columbus of action. Yet he does not overlook the serious purpose behind the action. HAs the caravels sail on tropic seas to new and ever more wonderful islands, and to high mountaincrested coasts of terra firma where the long surges of the trade winds eternally break and roar, I cannot forget the eternal faith that sent this man forth, to the benefit of all future ages." The first chapters of this very substantial book are devoted to Columbus' early life in Genoa, his adventures as a seaman on the Mediterranean, his years in Portugal, contemporary accounts of the man, his appearance and character, his failure to interest the King of Portugal in his great enterprise of finding a western route to the Indies, and his removal to Spain in the hope that he might be more successful with Ferdinand and Isabella. The Queen showed a keen interest in the project, but the King was preoccupied with other matters nearer home. "It was as if a polar explorer had tried to interest Lincoln in the conquest of the Antarctic about the time of the Battle of Gettysburg." The scheme was referred to a commission of scholars for examination and report. Five or six years...