On these brown rocks the waves dissolve in spray As when our fathers saw them first alee. If such a one could come again and see This ancient haven in its latter day, These haughty palaces and gardens gay, These dense, soft lawns, bedecked by many a tree Borne like a gem from Ind or Araby; If he could see the race he bred, at play — Bright like a flock of tropic birds allured To pause a moment on the southward wing By these warm sands and by these summer seas — Would he not cry, "Alas, have I endured Exile and famine, hate and suffering, To win religious liberty for these?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HEREDITY by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE SMUGGLER'S LEAP; A LEGEND OF THANET by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM HYMNE (TO BE SUNG WITH THREE VOICES) by JOSEPH BEAUMONT THE SNARE OF THE FOWLER by WILLIAM ROSE BENET SONG BY AN OLD SHEPHERD by WILLIAM BLAKE |