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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

EN TOUR; A SONG SEQUENCE: 3. GENOA, by                    
First Line: And have you been to genoa
Last Line: With a hundred years' supplies.
Subject(s): Flying Dutchman (ship); Genoa, Italy


And have you been to Genoa,
To Genoa, to Genoa,
Its shining marble palaces
In layers round the hills?
You've but to hear the name of it --
Oh, proud and lovely Genoa! --
To have it touch the heart of you
With glorifying thrills.

The little, crowded, crooked streets,
The endless stairs in Genoa,
The shipping and the harbors,
Both the old one and the new --
There's not a word about the ships
Crowding into Genoa
But you can safely listen to
And know that it is true.
* * * * *
I met the Flying Dutchman
Upon the streets of Genoa.
We chatted for a moment
Of the weather and the Horn;
And before we left -- this happened once
In proud and shining Genoa --
He showed me a small picture
Of the place where he was born.

The Flying Dutchman, you could see,
Was quite at home in Genoa;
He said -- and looking at him
I could scarce believe my eyes --
This was, he thought, the seventh time
He had put in to Genoa
To stock his little vessel
With a hundred years' supplies.





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