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:
- On A Mischievous Bull, Which The Owner Him Sold At The Author’s Instance by William Cowper
- My Heart Screams by Roberto Cocina
- Backtracking by Satish Verma
- Lord Nevil039s Advice
- Юнна Мориц – Страна вагонная, вагонное терпенье
- Exmoor poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Décembre austral by Patryck Froissart
- Tempest poem – Alexander Pushkin
- The City That Will Not Repent by Vachel Lindsay
- Commemoration of Rodney’s Victory by Robert Burns
- Алексей Плещеев – Знакомые звуки, чудесные звуки
- Teddy Bear
- Sobbing of The Bells, The. by Walt Whitman
- Sonnet CXLI by William Shakespeare
- Anchor Song by Rudyard Kipling
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
- Morning Poem #6 by Wanda Phipps
- Morning Poem #59 by Wanda Phipps
- Morning Poem #43 by Wanda Phipps
- Morning Poem #40 by Wanda Phipps
- Morning Poem #39 by Wanda Phipps
- Morning Poem #39 by Wanda Phipps
- Morning Poem #1 by Wanda Phipps
- Your Voice by Walter William Safar
- The Land Beyond the Rainbow by Walter William Safar
- Old Homeless Man by Walter William Safar
- Ode to Poetry by Walter William Safar
- Ode to Mother Nature by Walter William Safar
- Mother Nature by Walter William Safar
- Me, The Wind and the Old Shadow by Walter William Safar
- Lonely Nights by Walter William Safar
- Life by Walter William Safar
- It’s Beautiful to See Through the Eyes of the Sky by Walter William Safar
- In The Name of Eternal Love by Walter William Safar
- In the Name of Eternal Love by Walter William Safar
- Immigrant by Walter William Safar
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.