 | Poems and Sonnets |  |
277
NORTH AND SOUTH.
Praise we the skies of the North,
And the grey long seas and the foam,
And the slope of the beach by our home,
And the mariners hard to roam,
Most lusty to issue forth!
And the grey long seas and the foam,
And the slope of the beach by our home,
And the mariners hard to roam,
Most lusty to issue forth!
Laud we the sands of the South,
The green sweet shores and the blue,
With a soft light shimmering through
Still waves that float a canoe,
That wash by the harbour mouth!
The green sweet shores and the blue,
With a soft light shimmering through
Still waves that float a canoe,
That wash by the harbour mouth!
278
Praise we the arms of our men,
Most sinewy, muscular, lean,
Lithe bodies shapely and clean,
Long limbs that have wrestled and seen
A fierce hot race now and then!
Most sinewy, muscular, lean,
Lithe bodies shapely and clean,
Long limbs that have wrestled and seen
A fierce hot race now and then!
Laud we our women and eyes
Very lovely, that after the day
Has burned its beauty away
Expand, plead, sparkle, and pray,
When the mists of the evening rise!
Very lovely, that after the day
Has burned its beauty away
Expand, plead, sparkle, and pray,
When the mists of the evening rise!
Praise we our fair-cheeked girls,
Red lips, and roses, and hair
For the most part golden, and rare
Blue glances cast here and there
Upon young unnoticing churls!
Red lips, and roses, and hair
For the most part golden, and rare
Blue glances cast here and there
Upon young unnoticing churls!
279
Laud we the pale clear brow
Of a passionate queen of the land
Where the olives and oranges stand,
And the myrtles, and hand in hand
The milk-white oxen plough!
Of a passionate queen of the land
Where the olives and oranges stand,
And the myrtles, and hand in hand
The milk-white oxen plough!
Praise we a Northern flower,
Upright, strong, lady of light,
With modesty clothed for a might,
And eyes as the stars that are bright
When the long cold nights are in power!
Upright, strong, lady of light,
With modesty clothed for a might,
And eyes as the stars that are bright
When the long cold nights are in power!
Laud we a Southern maid,
With the fire and the sweet firm walk,
And the movements supple, and talk
Of a meeting soon where the cork
Trees furnish a suitable shade!
With the fire and the sweet firm walk,
And the movements supple, and talk
Of a meeting soon where the cork
Trees furnish a suitable shade!
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