Classic Poem

Enchanted Italy! Fair, sunny land!
How often, in my dreams, I've lightly strayed
Beneath thy olive-orchards' trembling shade,
And felt my brow by thy soft breezes fanned:

How often gazed upon thy magic sky,
And breathed the wild magnolia's sweet perfume,
While close at hand the aloe lifts its plume,
And orange-blossoms in the pathway lie:

And sweetly sing the birds their melodies,
Till gentle night lets fall her veil of love;
And, while the stars glow tenderly above,
The mellow moonlight quivers through the trees.

Perchance these visions may prophetic be,
And some day through thy gardens I may roam,
Beneath thy cloudless skies may make my home,
And see thy treasures, glorious Italy.