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No tears were shed, as our vessel sped
Where the free fresh breezes bore;
We thought of the wealth our hands should win,
And cared not to deplore
A land unmotherly to us.
Who drove us from her shore,
Wherever we would, for evil or good,
To wipe away the stain
That poverty burns on the breast and brow,
With a brand like that of Cain;–
To rub it off with the virtue of gold,
And the potency of gain.

III.

There were but two–and I was one–
Regretful to depart;
And we were friends, we knew not why,
Except for the hidden sympathy
That acts from heart to heart
Magnetic, ere the tongue can say
“My friend! I feel thou art!”

IV.

Like one awaking from a dream,
Ere the mist of slumber clears,
I wondered whether I slept or wak’d.
And what made tarry my tears;
Asking myself- “And can it be
That I’ve done my heart such wrong
As to leave my Lily–my Queen of flowers–
That bloomed in my bosom long,
And join, for the sake of the dreary dross,
This miserable throng?”

V.

But Hope went with me; thou wert safe,
And I thought of a coming day.
When my Lily should bloom in a lordly bower,
The Queen of my life’s glad May;
And built high palaces of cloud.
To gleam in the morning ray.
Palace and tower of changing form;–
Ever they fell and rose.
But ever amid their purple halls.
And corridors of snows,
I saw the gleam of thy spangled robes.
And thy feet like twinkling stars;
And heard thy voice, and saw thy face
Peering through golden bars.

VI.

At evening, when the sun went down,
All heaven for his attire.
We watched the glory of his face–
The old Imperial Sire–
Sinking to rest in the regal west,
In robes of crimson fire.

VII.

Five hundred souls on good ship board,
And only two to bless
The splendour of the closing day.
And the twilight loveliness!
Five hundred souls, and only two
To look into the night,
In its ineffable majesty.
And wonder at the sight.
With love no language could express,
And yearnings infinite!

VIII.
We saw communion in our eyes,
The voiceless thought of each;
The frozen founts of sympathy
Were loosened into speech.
The lighthouse glittered faint and far.
But ere we lost its flame,
Each knew the other’s hopes and fears,
His kindred and his name;
The uneasy spirit that urged him forth,
And the country whence he came.

IX.

Four weary months on the wide wide sea,
We paced the deck together;
Dreading no foe but the treacherous berg
And the breezeless summer weather,
When the idle topsail hung on the mast
As useless as a feather.

X.

The sailors glancing to the south
Discoursed of mist and snow,
“Heaven grant!” they said, “deliverance
From the iceberg and the floe!”
Far as our wondering eyes could reach
Uprose their summits clear;–
Like cities on a distant shore
We saw them floating near;
Cathedrals, pinnacles, and towers,
And palaces of cold,
Rose-tinted, amber, opal blue.
Alight with living gold.

XI.

Fair Ocean Alps! we could but gaze
With wonder and delight,
Though still the wary seaman spoke
Of perils in the night:–
“Heaven be our hope! and guide us safe
Through perils of the night!”

XII.

And were our eyes and ears deceived,
And were we near a town?
Far from the ship, beyond the ice
A league or more, adown,
We heard the sound of pealing bells,
One! two! and three! and four!
“Rejoice!” we cried, “the land! the land!
They’re ringing on the shore!”