 | The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer |  |
200
JUNIPER ISLE.
Oh! fairy scenes are in many lands,
Bright lawns lie spread amid desert sands;
Green Edens, swept by the cooling breeze,
Their brows lift up above Indian seas,
While the billows break, in lengthened swells,
And strew the shore with rose-lipped shells;
But Nature in her loveliest spot—
Arcadian bower, or Egerian grot,
Gave never the light of a sweeter smile
Than rests on the face of the Juniper Isle.
Bright lawns lie spread amid desert sands;
Green Edens, swept by the cooling breeze,
Their brows lift up above Indian seas,
While the billows break, in lengthened swells,
And strew the shore with rose-lipped shells;
But Nature in her loveliest spot—
Arcadian bower, or Egerian grot,
Gave never the light of a sweeter smile
Than rests on the face of the Juniper Isle.
A bow-shot or more, from its gleaming strand,
A rock looms up all dark and grand,
Girt by an azure, watery zone,
Like faith in a shifting world alone:
Old hills beyond, a continuous chain,
Give bounds to the realm of proud Champlain,
And clothed in robes of cerulean dye
Resemble clouds that have left the sky,
Woo'd down by the scene's romantic charms,
Like Dian to young Endymion's arms.
A rock looms up all dark and grand,
Girt by an azure, watery zone,
Like faith in a shifting world alone:
Old hills beyond, a continuous chain,
Give bounds to the realm of proud Champlain,
And clothed in robes of cerulean dye
Resemble clouds that have left the sky,
Woo'd down by the scene's romantic charms,
Like Dian to young Endymion's arms.
Back memory will often stray
To the quiet scene of that summer day
When I heard the combing billows break
On the polished beach of the breezy lake;
But the brightest feature of the scene,
Though skies were clear, the meadows green,
And airy tongues, dispelling care,
Made musical both earth and air,
Was nature's gem, the Juniper Isle,
That basked in the sunset's golden smile.
To the quiet scene of that summer day
When I heard the combing billows break
On the polished beach of the breezy lake;
But the brightest feature of the scene,
Though skies were clear, the meadows green,
And airy tongues, dispelling care,
Made musical both earth and air,
Was nature's gem, the Juniper Isle,
That basked in the sunset's golden smile.
| The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer | |