Here, ere the sun appeared at day,
Once Hocked each tenant of the mead;
Each bird and beast, with direful need,
To drink, and wash its ills away.
Once Hocked each tenant of the mead;
Each bird and beast, with direful need,
To drink, and wash its ills away.
And here, unseen and undefiled,
The healing waters upward coursed,
From Vulcan's cryptic caverns forced,
In sparkling torrents, clear and wild.
The healing waters upward coursed,
From Vulcan's cryptic caverns forced,
In sparkling torrents, clear and wild.
When the lone redskin trod that vale,
And first the spouting waters saw,
He stopped, aghast in prayerful awe,
Then fled to tell the wondrous tale!
And first the spouting waters saw,
He stopped, aghast in prayerful awe,
Then fled to tell the wondrous tale!
1921
Avalon
O Avalon, fair Avalon,
Bride of the deep blue sea,
About thee pass quaint barks of glass
To solve thy mystery!
Upon thy briny waves they ride
About thy rocky shore;
And travelers view the bottom through
Wonders of ocean's floor.
Down in thy waters, deep and warm,
Strange magic blossoms grow,
From higher clime by sportive Time
Cast to the gulfs below.
From craggy heights of hoary stone
The questing sight may spy
A mighty sweep where azure deep
Joins with the azure sky.
Whence earnest thou, gray island peak;
Whence earnest thou, and when?
Didst spring of old from Vulcan's fold,
His chosen comrade then?
Did thy young eyes behold above
The vault we know today,
Or did strange lights illume the nights
With many a cryptic ray?
What mystic subterranean powers
Raised thee so tall and proud?
Did Vulcan's horde the aid afford,
'Mid tumults wild and loud?
Thus torn in fire from ancient earth
And thrust amidst the blue,
Thy sides must e'er sustain the wear
Of Neptune's boisterous crew.
And now upon thy towering heights
We sit transfixed, enthralled!
Here the Muse wakes, and silence breaks,
By dreamy Nature called.
Behold the distant white-winged ships
That o'er the waters glide;
And spouting whales that breast the gales
And love the heaving tide!
Could we but draw the primal scene,
Bride of the deep blue sea,
About thee pass quaint barks of glass
To solve thy mystery!
Upon thy briny waves they ride
About thy rocky shore;
And travelers view the bottom through
Wonders of ocean's floor.
Down in thy waters, deep and warm,
Strange magic blossoms grow,
From higher clime by sportive Time
Cast to the gulfs below.
From craggy heights of hoary stone
The questing sight may spy
A mighty sweep where azure deep
Joins with the azure sky.
Whence earnest thou, gray island peak;
Whence earnest thou, and when?
Didst spring of old from Vulcan's fold,
His chosen comrade then?
Did thy young eyes behold above
The vault we know today,
Or did strange lights illume the nights
With many a cryptic ray?
What mystic subterranean powers
Raised thee so tall and proud?
Did Vulcan's horde the aid afford,
'Mid tumults wild and loud?
Thus torn in fire from ancient earth
And thrust amidst the blue,
Thy sides must e'er sustain the wear
Of Neptune's boisterous crew.
And now upon thy towering heights
We sit transfixed, enthralled!
Here the Muse wakes, and silence breaks,
By dreamy Nature called.
Behold the distant white-winged ships
That o'er the waters glide;
And spouting whales that breast the gales
And love the heaving tide!
Could we but draw the primal scene,
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