In Cornwall and Across the Sea With Poems Written in Devonshire. By Douglas B. W. Sladen |
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 | In Cornwall and Across the Sea |  |
128
ADEN.
Written off Aden.
Gibraltar of the East, dark sentinel,
Holding a shield over the waterway
That floats ships to the cradle of the day
(Which was the cradle of the arts as well)
From the red west where shines the magic spell,
Which once illumed the workshops of Cathay
And India's temples with a magic ray
Of skill and science, we can scarce excel
With all our boasted knowledge, thou art fair,
Seen in the distance with thy lofty rock
Twisted into grotesque similitude
Of mosque and castle in the evening air,
Though thou art but a parched, pestiferous block
Of barren stone, by nature unsubdued.
| In Cornwall and Across the Sea | |