O GARDEN isle, beloved by Sun and Sea, Whose bluest billows kiss thy curving bays, Whose light infolds thy hills with golden rays, Filling with fruit each dark-leaved orange-tree, What hidden hatred hath the Earth for thee, That once again, in these dark, dreadful days, Breaks forth in trembling rage, and swiftly lays Thy beauty waste in wreck and agony! Is Nature, then, a strife of jealous powers, And man the plaything of unconscious fate? Not so, my troubled heart! God reigns above, And man is greatest in his darkest hours. Walking amid the cities desolate, Behold the Son of God in human love! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FRANCE: AN ODE by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE JEST 'FORE CHRISTMAS by EUGENE FIELD PHILLIS INAMOROTA by LANCELOT ANDREWES THE LIGHT OF ASIA by EDWIN ARNOLD COMMENDATORY VERSES TO WILLIAM BROWNE'S 'BRITANNIA'S PASTORALS' by WILLIAM BASSE MISS MILLY O'NAIRE by WILLARD GROSVENOR BLEYER |