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 Lost Friend poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Let me draw your face by St Antoine de la Vuadi
- A Prophecy: To George Keats In America poem – John Keats poems
- Владимир Маяковский – Селькор
- Limbo Under the Westway poem – André Rostant poems
- Daybreak In A Garden by Siegfried Sassoon
- Call It Music by Philip Levine
- The Twelve poem – Aleksandr Blok poems | Poetry Monster
- Sonnet III. Written On The Day That Mr. Leigh Hunt Left Prison poem – John Keats poems
- Dark spring by Yvor Winters
- Baby’s Way by Rabindranath Tagore
- Paradise Lost: Book 08 poem – John Milton poems
- Владимир Британишский – Античник Альтман
- Immoral Laboratories
- Unforgetting by Satish Verma
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
- Владимир Маяковский – Гимназист или строитель
- Владимир Маяковский – Гимн взятке
- Владимир Маяковский – Гимн судье
- Владимир Маяковский – Гимн обеду
- Владимир Маяковский – Гевлок Вильсон
- Владимир Маяковский – Если белогвардейщину не добьем совсем… (РОСТА №148)
- Владимир Маяковский – Еще Петербург
- Владимир Маяковский – Электричество – вид энергии
- Владимир Маяковский – Эй, уралец! Без помощи твоего рудника не победить разруху никак (Агитплакаты)
- Владимир Маяковский – Эй, товарищи, за труд!.. (Главполитпросвет №146)
- Владимир Маяковский – Эй, товарищи! От сбора продналога… (Главполитпросвет №284)
- Владимир Маяковский – Эй, товарищ! Поищи дома (Главполитпросвет №95)
- Владимир Маяковский – Эй, товарищ! Если ты пришел на Сухаревку… (РОСТА №262)
- Владимир Маяковский – Эй, шахтер! В опасности трудовая республика твоя! (Агитплакаты)
- Владимир Маяковский – Эй, онанисты, кричите «Ура!»
- Владимир Маяковский – Эй! крестьянин, помни ты… (Главполитпросвет №43)
- Владимир Маяковский – Эй, граждане, берегите воду!.. (Главполитпросвет №249)
- Владимир Маяковский – Эй
- Владимир Маяковский – Дядя ЭМЭСПЭО
- Владимир Маяковский – Две культуры
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.