G Outshine the beauty of the sea, White foam and crimson shell. Come, for the soft low sunlight calls, And I will learn of thee a prayer A lot so blest as ours The God who made for thee and me This sweet lone isle amid the sea. THE FIRMAMENT. AY! gloriously thou standest there, And round the horizon bent, With thy bright vault, and sapphire wall, Dost overhang and circle all. Far, far below thee, tall gray trees And hills, whose ancient summits freeze In the fierce light and cold. The eagle soars his utmost height, Thou hast thy frowns-with thee on high His stores of hail and sleet. Yet art thou prodigal of smiles Smiles, sweeter than thy frowns are stern: Earth sends, from all her thousand isles, A shout at their return. The glory that comes down from thee, Bathes, in deep joy, the land and sea. The sun, the gorgeous sun is thine, The pomp that brings and shuts the day, The clouds that round him change and shine, The airs that fan his way. Thence look the thoughtful stars, and there The sunny Italy may boast The beauteous tints that flush her skies, And lovely, round the Grecian coast, May thy blue pillars rise. I only know how fair they stand And they are fair—a charm is theirs, That earth, the proud green earth, has not— With all the forms, and hues, and airs, That haunt her sweetest spot. We gaze upon the calm pure sphere. And read of Heaven's eternal year. |