An Exile’s Farewell
by Adam Lindsay Gordon
The ocean heaves around us still
With long and measured swell,
The autumn gales our canvas fill,
Our ship rides smooth and well.
The broad Atlantic’s bed of foam
Still breaks against our prow;
I shed no tears at quitting home,
Nor will I shed them now!
Against the bulwarks on the poop
I lean, and watch the sun
Behind the red horizon stoop —
His race is nearly run.
Those waves will never quench his light,
O’er which they seem to close,
To-morrow he will rise as bright
As he this morning rose.
How brightly gleams the orb of day
Across the trackless sea!
How lightly dance the waves that play
Like dolphins in our lee!
The restless waters seem to say,
In smothered tones to me,
How many thousand miles away
My native land must be!
Speak, Ocean! is my Home the same
Now all is new to me? —
The tropic sky’s resplendent flame,
The vast expanse of sea?
Does all around her, yet unchanged,
The well-known aspect wear?
Oh! can the leagues that I have ranged
Have made no difference there?
How vivid Recollection’s hand
Recalls the scene once more!
I see the same tall poplars stand
Beside the garden door;
I see the bird-cage hanging still;
And where my sister set
The flowers in the window-sill —
Can they be living yet?
Let woman’s nature cherish grief,
I rarely heave a sigh
Before emotion takes relief
In listless apathy;
While from my pipe the vapours curl
Towards the evening sky,
And ‘neath my feet the billows whirl
In dull monotony!
The sky still wears the crimson streak
Of Sol’s departing ray,
Some briny drops are on my cheek,
‘Tis but the salt sea spray!
Then let our barque the ocean roam,
Our keel the billows plough;
I shed no tears at quitting home,
Nor will I shed them now!

A few random poems:
- The Last Man by Thomas Campbell
- Владимир Высоцкий – Схвати судьбу за горло, словно посох
- The Explorer by Rudyard Kipling
- A PASTORAL SUNG TO THE KING by Robert Herrick
- Life and Love by Nithin Purple
- Vegetable Swallow by Tristan Tzara
- Christmas Dance of the Hours by Michael T. Bee
- The Mower Against Gardens poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- On the Threshold poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Land of Counterpane by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Николай Языков – Вторая присяга
- Since There Is No Escape by Sara Teasdale
- In A Restaurant by Sara Teasdale
- Sonnet 10 poem – John Milton poems
- Behold, As Goblins Dark Of Mien by Robert Louis Stevenson
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Dark Wood, Dark Water by Sylvia Plath
- Dark House by Sylvia Plath
- Danse Macabre by Sylvia Plath
- Cut by Sylvia Plath
- Crystal Gazer by Sylvia Plath
- Contusion by Sylvia Plath
- Cinderella by Sylvia Plath
- Childless Woman by Sylvia Plath
- Child by Sylvia Plath
- Channel Crossing by Sylvia Plath
- Candles by Sylvia Plath
- Bucolics by Sylvia Plath
- Brasilia by Sylvia Plath
- Blue Moles by Sylvia Plath
- Berck-Plage by Sylvia Plath
- Barren Woman by Sylvia Plath
- Aquatic Nocturne by Sylvia Plath
- April Aubade by Sylvia Plath
- April 18 by Sylvia Plath
- Among The Narcissi by Sylvia Plath
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works
Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833 – 1870) was an Australian or British-Australian poet, horseman, police officer and politician. He is considered to be one of the first national Australian poets.