When I behold the pharos shine
And lay a path along the sea,
How gladly I shall feel the spray,
Standing upon the swinging prow;
And question of my pilot old, 5
How many watery leagues to sail
Ere we shall round the harbour reef
And anchor off the wharves of home!
LI
Is the day long,
O Lesbian maiden,
And the night endless
In thy lone chamber
In Mitylene? 5
All the bright day,
Until welcome evening
When the stars kindle
Over the harbour,
What tasks employ thee? 10
Passing the fountain
At golden sundown,
One of the home-going
Traffickers, hast thou
Thought of thy lover? 15
Nay, but how far
Too brief will the night be,
When I returning
To the dear portal
Hear my own heart beat! 20
LII
Lo, on the distance a dark blue ravine,
A fold in the mountainous forests of fir,
Cleft from the sky-line sheer down to the shore!
Above are the clouds and the white, pealing gulls,
At its foot is the rough broken foam of the sea, 5
With ever anon the long deep muffled roar,—
A sigh from the fitful great heart of the world.