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:
- A Schoolyard Shame by Ryan Isaacson
- Learn
- The Death of Lincoln by William Cullen Bryant
- A Memory by Rupert Brooke
- A Sea-Shore Grave. To M. J. L. by Sidney Lanier
- “`Covet who will the patronage of Kings ” poem – Alfred Austin
- Exit by Rita Dove
- Виктор Кудлачев – Весна
- The Song of the Shirt by Thomas Hood
- Breath by Ryssel Guzman
- The Fraser River by Mike Yuan
- Джон Мильтон – Новым гонителям свободы
- February 23
- I Found A Few Old Letters by Rabindranath Tagore
- An Essay on Man in Four Epistles: Epistle 1 poem – Alexander Pope
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
- November by William Cullen Bryant
- Mutation by William Cullen Bryant
- Love and Folly by William Cullen Bryant
- June by William Cullen Bryant
- Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood by William Cullen Bryant
- William Cullen Bryant – William Cullen Bryant
- Hymn To Death by William Cullen Bryant
- Hymn of the City by William Cullen Bryant
- Consumption by William Cullen Bryant
- After a Tempest by William Cullen Bryant
- A Song of Pitcairn’s Island by William Cullen Bryant
- A Forest Hymn by William Cullen Bryant
- William Henry Davies
- The Example by William Henry Davies
- The Dark Hour by William Henry Davies
- The Child and the Mariner by William Henry Davies
- The Boy by William Henry Davies
- The Bird of Paradise by William Henry Davies
- The Best Friend by William Henry Davies
- Sweet Stay-at-Home by William Henry Davies
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.