Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/32



 wrongly called the New! this clime was old When first the Spaniard came, in search of gold. Age after age its shadowy wings had spread, And man was born, and gathered to the dead; Cities arose, ruled, dwindled to decay, Empires were formed, then darkly swept away: Race followed race, like cloud-shades o'er the field, The stranger still to strangers doomed to yield. The last grand line that swayed these hills and waves, Like Israel, wandered long 'mid wilds and caves, Then, settling in their Canaan, cities reared. Fair Science wooed, a milder God revered, Till to invading Europe bowed their pride, And pomp, art, power, with Montezuma, died."