Whom the luxuriant myrtles fondly crown,
And sparkling zones of snowy shell engirdle,
Corsica's sun-burnt sister, wild and brown.
Red reefs and craggy islets round thee hanging,
Rude capes that cleave the sea with zig-zag line,
—Their crimson cliffs thou wearest in thy beauty,
Like blood-red necklace of the coral fine.
My friend Lorenzo, yonder purple mountains
They beckon in their gracious calm to me—
They stir my bosom with a fiery longing,