Thanks to the lotus-blossom spell,
Their lives were one long miracle.
In after years the passing sons of men
Looked for those lotus blossoms all in vain,
Through every hillside, glade, and glen
And e'en the isles of many a main;
Yet through the centuries some doom,
Forbade them see the lotus bloom.
The Old World wearied of the long pursuit,
And called the sacred leaf a poet's theme,