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 Artist by Sir Walter Raleigh
- All Kinds by William Wright Harris
- Of Wit
- Николай Заболоцкий – Подводный город
- A Net to Snare the Moonlight by Vachel Lindsay
- Николай Языков – А. А. Воейковой (На петербургскую дорогу)
- Poems by William Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience and the Book of Thel
- Hymn To Death poem – Alfred Austin
- In the New Garden in all the Parts. by Walt Whitman
- Homecoming of Love on the Sands by Rafael Alberti
- The Perfect Marriage by Vachel Lindsay
- The Best Friend by William Henry Davies
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песенка про прыгуна в длину
- The Drunken Fisherman by Robert Lowell
- Rogue Elephant poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
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
- Locations and Times. by Walt Whitman
- Lo! Victress on the Peaks. by Walt Whitman
- Lessons. by Walt Whitman
- Laws for Creations. by Walt Whitman
- Last Invocation, The. by Walt Whitman
- Kosmos. by Walt Whitman
- Joy, Shipmate, Joy! by Walt Whitman
- Italian Music in Dakota. by Walt Whitman
- Inscription. by Walt Whitman
- Indications, The. by Walt Whitman
- In the New Garden in all the Parts. by Walt Whitman
- In Paths Untrodden. by Walt Whitman
- In Midnight Sleep. by Walt Whitman
- In Cabin’d Ships at Sea. by Walt Whitman
- I will Take an Egg Out of the Robin’s Nest. by Walt Whitman
- I was Looking a Long While. by Walt Whitman
- I Thought I was not Alone. by Walt Whitman
- I Sit and Look Out. by Walt Whitman
- I Sing the Body Electric. by Walt Whitman
- I saw Old General at Bay. by Walt Whitman
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.