Classic Poem

In Genoa the superb O'Connell dies,
That city of Columbus by the sea,
Beneath the canopy of azure skies,
As high and cloudless as his fame must be.
Is it mere chance or higher destiny
That brings these names together? One the bold
Wanderer in ways that none hath trod but he;
The other, too, exploring paths untold;
One a new world would seek, and one
Would save the old!