By T. Buchanan Read. Illustrated From Designs By Miss L. B. Humphrey Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott and Co. 1881
DRIFTING.
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MY soul to-day
Is far away
Sailing the Vesuvian Bay;
My wingÉd boat,
A bird afloat,
Swims round the purple peaks remote:—
ROUND purple peaks
It sails, and seeks
Blue inlets and their crystal creeks,
Where high rocks throw,
Through deeps below,
A duplicated golden glow.
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FAR, vague, and dim,
The mountains swim;
While on Vesuvius' misty brim,
With outstretched hands,
The gray smoke stands
O'erlooking the volcanic lands.
IN lofty lines,
'Mid palms and pines,
And olives, aloes, elms, and vines,
Sorrento swings
On sunset wings,
Where Tasso's spirit soars and sings.
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I HEED not, if
My rippling skiff
Float swift or slow from cliff to
cliff;—
With dreamful eyes
My spirit lies
Under the walls of Paradise.
Under the walls
Where swells and falls
The Bay's deep breast at intervals.
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At peace I lie,
Blown softly by,
A cloud upon this liquid sky.
The day, so mild,
Is Heaven's own child,
With Earth and Ocean reconciled;—
The airs I feel
Around me steal
Are murmuring to the murmuring keel.
OVER the rail
My hand I trail
Within the shadow of the sail,
A joy intense,
The cooling sense
Glides down my drowsy indolence.
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THE fisher's child,
With tresses wild,
Unto the smooth, bright sand beguiled,
With glowing lips
Sings as she skips,
Or gazes at the far-off ships.
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HAPPY ship,
To rise and dip,
With the blue crystal at your lip!
O happy crew,
My heart with you
anew!
NO more, no more
The worldly shore
Upbraids me with its loud uproar
With dreamful eyes
My spirit lies
Under the walls of Paradise!
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