Hesperia

Across the stretch of southward seasThe zephyr-swept HesperidesLie smiling, ever smiling;And there the laughter-loving PanLeads on his joyous woodland clanThrough halcyon haunts, unknown to man,With song the hours beguiling.O fair, far land, thy portalsSwing only to immortals!Thy scented bowers, thy wondrous flowers,Thy pleasant ways of ease,Thy nights dew-dipped and breathless,Thy birds, unwearied, deathless—These charms untold I’d fain behold,Fair, far Hesperides!

The dusk with all her wealth of stars,The dawn, when clouds like crimson barsTurn all the east to splendor,Bring roseate dreamings unto meOf Nereids flashing from the sea,Who turn their shining eyes to thee,Thou land of music tender.But ah, ’t is useless dreaming—Thy woodland pools that, gleamingLike bits of sky, unruffled lie,Are not for eyes like these;Yet, could my longing visionBehold thy fields Elysian,What peace divine I’d claim as mine,Fair, far Hesperides!