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ATLANTIS.
II.
Unkinged, Atlantis, are thy hapless guests;
They mourn, they wail for thee through ice-wrought caves;
By torrid isles they lift sea-burdened breasts,
They fail with grief, they sink in sobbing waves.
Ah, their rich temples loud with singing slaves—
Their tribute-yielding people prone to kneel!
Ah, their broad realm! the pathless deep it paves;
O'er its bold mountains reef-torn vessels reel:
No minstrels chant its woe and none recite its weal.
Unkinged, Atlantis, are thy hapless guests;
They mourn, they wail for thee through ice-wrought caves;
By torrid isles they lift sea-burdened breasts,
They fail with grief, they sink in sobbing waves.
Ah, their rich temples loud with singing slaves—
Their tribute-yielding people prone to kneel!
Ah, their broad realm! the pathless deep it paves;
O'er its bold mountains reef-torn vessels reel:
No minstrels chant its woe and none recite its weal.
III.
Lo! yet our marvel-loving souls have caught
That old belief profanely scoffed as vain,—
"Beyond the heights of Hercules, 't is thought,
Of yore an island gorged the whelming main:
In sooth strange dyes the stagnant waters stain,
And all seafarers of the West aver,
Lo! yet our marvel-loving souls have caught
That old belief profanely scoffed as vain,—
"Beyond the heights of Hercules, 't is thought,
Of yore an island gorged the whelming main:
In sooth strange dyes the stagnant waters stain,
And all seafarers of the West aver,
