 | Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy |  |
52
THE ISLANDS OF LAGO MAGGIORE
When those old Greeks, fordone with toil of seas,
And sorrow of the land, and endless wrong,
Hoped against hope for quiet rest among
Some golden isle of the Hesperides,
They had not seen this tranquil flood, nor these
Calm-girt and azure-circled isles of song
And sun and flower, where all things tender throng,
And earth and air invite perpetual ease—
And sorrow of the land, and endless wrong,
Hoped against hope for quiet rest among
Some golden isle of the Hesperides,
They had not seen this tranquil flood, nor these
Calm-girt and azure-circled isles of song
And sun and flower, where all things tender throng,
And earth and air invite perpetual ease—
Or, sure, some singer would have smote his lyre,
And told men tired with wandering, of a lake
In whose calm ripple stars do larger grow,
And clouds gain glory, where like emeralds glow
Green islands at the noon, where mornings break
Up from the depths in golden fleece of fire.
And told men tired with wandering, of a lake
In whose calm ripple stars do larger grow,
And clouds gain glory, where like emeralds glow
Green islands at the noon, where mornings break
Up from the depths in golden fleece of fire.
| Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy | |