 | Our Holiday Among The Hills |  |
OUTWARD BOUND.
Reddas incolumem, precor,
Et serves animæ dimidium meæ.
Hor., Car. 3, Lib. I.
Et serves animæ dimidium meæ.
Hor., Car. 3, Lib. I.
I
She speeds through southern seas;And William in the bow
—His white hair by the steady breeze
Blown forward on his brow—
Sees other scenes than Scottish trees
And Scottish burnies now.
II
Forward he seems to lean—As if with eager eyes
22
That far before him lies
Beyond the line that sweeps between
The ocean and the skies.
III
What marvels lay asideTheir mystery to him!
What famous islets are descried
On the horizon dim!
What constellations o'er him slide!
What monsters past him swim!
IV
Leviathan at playTempests the weltering brine;
The Southern Cross redeems the day
With radiancy divine;
And on yon rock Napoleon lay
After his great decline!
V
We traced, and traced again,Schoolboys, with knitted brow,
Upon one atlas with a pen
The track of that ship's prow:
—I had the fuller knowledge then,
He has the ampler now.
23
VI
Down the blue hemisphere,White sail! to Table Bay,
For sake of one whom we hold dear,
Glide steadily, we pray—
We twenty, in the hamlet here,
Whose hearts thou bear'st away!
| Our Holiday Among The Hills | |