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the castaways.
From morn to night they strained their eyes,
But no passing ship could they descry,
Or sunny isle, where palms that proudly waved,
Gave rise to hope of their being saved!—
Suddenly Horace one fine morning cried
"Can you see an island on our starboard side?"
And there above the rippling waves,
Wrapt in a veil of golden haze,
A bright and lovely island lay,
Which seemed to smile on the new-born day,
While its palms and bread-fruit trees,
Seemed gracefully waving in the morning breeze.
But o'er it still the mystic haze
Like a beauteous golden glory laid.
And the island which was so bright and fair,
Appeared to tremble in the air!—
Denser, and denser, grew the brilliant veil,
Until the fairy vision had died away.
Drifting, still drifting, on the wide and trackless sea,
Turning their eyes in vain to windward or lee,
And still no sign the lonely ocean bore,
Of a saving ship, or a friendly shore.
To the north and south, east and west,
They sought in vain for a place of rest!
One evening as he leant o'er the vessel's side
He saw a palm branch floating with the tide,
But no passing ship could they descry,
Or sunny isle, where palms that proudly waved,
Gave rise to hope of their being saved!—
Suddenly Horace one fine morning cried
"Can you see an island on our starboard side?"
And there above the rippling waves,
Wrapt in a veil of golden haze,
A bright and lovely island lay,
Which seemed to smile on the new-born day,
While its palms and bread-fruit trees,
Seemed gracefully waving in the morning breeze.
But o'er it still the mystic haze
Like a beauteous golden glory laid.
And the island which was so bright and fair,
Appeared to tremble in the air!—
Denser, and denser, grew the brilliant veil,
Until the fairy vision had died away.
Drifting, still drifting, on the wide and trackless sea,
Turning their eyes in vain to windward or lee,
And still no sign the lonely ocean bore,
Of a saving ship, or a friendly shore.
To the north and south, east and west,
They sought in vain for a place of rest!
One evening as he leant o'er the vessel's side
He saw a palm branch floating with the tide,
