BY woodland belt, by ocean bar, The full south breeze our foreheads fanned, And, under many a yellow star, We dropped into the Magic Land. There, every sound and every sight Means more than sight or sound elsewhere; Each twilight star a twofold light; Each rose a double redness, there. By ocean bar, by woodland belt, Our silent course a syren led, Till dark in dawn began to melt, Through the wild wizard-work o'erhead. A murmur from the violet vales! A glory in the goblin dell! There Beauty all her breast unveils, And Music pours out all her shell. We watched, toward the land of dreams, The fair moon draw the murmuring main; A single thread of silver beams Was made the monster's rippling chain. We heard far off the syren's song; We caught the gleam of sea-maid's hair. The glimmering isles and rocks among, We moved through sparkling purple air. Then Morning rose, and smote from far, Her elfin harps o'er land and sea; And woodland belt, and ocean bar, To one sweet note, sighed "Italy!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FIRST VOYAGE OF JOHN CABOT [1497] by KATHARINE LEE BATES ODE TO A HUMAN HEART by SAMUEL LAMAN BLANCHARD PROGRESSIVE HEALTH by CARL DENNIS THE STORY OF AUGUSTUS WHO WOULD NOT HAVE ANY SOUP by HEINRICH HOFFMANN AN ODE IN IMITATION OF ALCAEUS by WILLIAM JONES TO JOSIAH ROYCE by BRENT DOW ALLINSON |