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115
IN VENICE.
O'er the waves gliding sings our gondolier,—
Moonrise, high midnight, and the voice of song!
Never again, never again, O Queen
Of waters, may my feet the wide sea cross
That laves thy marble shores. ... Take my farewell.
To-morrow's sun must light the pilgrim onward,
For his home is in the West, that far-off land
Thy youth had never known.
What sings he now
Who guides this phantom bark to meet the moon!
'T is a brave chant of Bucentaur and Love,
Older than Tasso, or the Genoese
Who left his birthplace for the new-found isles.
The maids of Venice sang it to their lutes,
When Doges listened in Ausonia's prime!
Moonrise, high midnight, and the voice of song!
Never again, never again, O Queen
Of waters, may my feet the wide sea cross
That laves thy marble shores. ... Take my farewell.
To-morrow's sun must light the pilgrim onward,
For his home is in the West, that far-off land
Thy youth had never known.
What sings he now
Who guides this phantom bark to meet the moon!
116
Older than Tasso, or the Genoese
Who left his birthplace for the new-found isles.
The maids of Venice sang it to their lutes,
When Doges listened in Ausonia's prime!
Turn the prow homeward, for the day-light hour
Stands waiting in the East. The night is ended,
And I must be gone.
Stands waiting in the East. The night is ended,
And I must be gone.
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