Passage 2: "Columbus" Behind him lay the gray Azores,

Behind the Gates of Hercules;

Before him not the ghost of shores;

Before him only shoreless seas.

5 The good mate said: "Now must we pray,

For lo! the very stars are gone.

Brave Adm'r'l, speak; what shall I say?"

"Why, say, 'Sail on! sail on! and on!'" "My men grow mutinous day by day;

10 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 Adm'r'l, say,

If we sight naught but seas at dawn?"

15 "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

20 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 Adm'r'l, speak and say"-

He said: "Sail on! sail on! and on!"

25 They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate:

"This mad sea shows his teeth to-night.

He curls his lip, he lies in wait,

He lifts his teeth, as if to bite!

Brave Adm'r'l, say but one good word:

30 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

35 Of all dark nights! And then a speck-

A light! A light! At last 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

40 Its grandest lesson: "On!

In the Passage 2, which word supports the possibility that the sailors are losing faith in Columbus?

“mutinous” (line 9)

“ghastly” (line 10)

“swarthy” (line 12)

“blanched” (line 18)