Classic Poem

Oh , emerald waves, to me your music cometh
Like the dim music in an ocean shell,
Calling me back, with fond, familiar voices,
To tread again thy shores, beloved, alas! too well.

Oh, lovely are ye, ye encircling waters,
Girdling with brightness the romantic shore,
With fairy sails in the far sunlight gleaming,
And silvery shower-drops from the glancing oar.

There the green headland, with its crowning turrets,
The far gray cliffs — the clear and sparkling sands,
And the sweet homes of peace whose groves and gardens
Blossom in beauty as the view expands.

No fairer scenes may to the Poet's spirit
Beneath the blue skies of Italia smile,
Than thine, oh, lovely bay, that fondly guardest,
With thy far-spreading waves, dear Mona's Isle.


It is the ocean's harvest! what kind wishes
Go with that moonlight navy's spreading sails!
From many hearts the fervent prayer ariseth,
That hope, yet tremble, as the breeze prevails.
Husband and lover — brother, son, and sire,
Go forth upon thy water; may they come
With gladsome triumph back, their treasures garner'd —
Their perils past — to bless their Island home.


Fair shores of Mona! fond remembrance hallows
Your changing scenes through mist, and sun, and shade, —
A cherish'd dream of beauty, unforgotten,
Till life itself shall from your minstrel fade!