POETRY.
LEBANON.
LIFE'S dull affairs lie westward ; yet anon I'll hie me back and watch the budding vines Climb the steep flanks of terraced Lebanon To catch the noontide shadow of his pines.
The fig, the poplar, and the apricot Cluster about the giant walnut tree Where oft I linger while the sun is hot And look beyond the mountains to the sea.
A score of hamlets lie beneath my gaze, Their red roofs peeping through the mulberries green ; And distant Cyprus shimmers in the haze Upon the limits of that brilliant scene. Entwine, thou rose, thy dazzling snowy wreath, Heedless of man, beside the upland pool ; Thy priceless beauty shall not fade beneath The gnawing canker of the Turk's misrule.
Ye rosy oleanders of the stream Lift to the blue the radiance of your sheaves ! Gambol, ye black flocks ! Dream, girl shepherds, dream Amid the thickets of their emerald leaves !
How sweet to ramble down those valleys fair, Remote from e'en the wandering Arab's ken, Where dewy drooping fronds of maidenhair Fringe gleaming clumps of pink-lipped cyclamen.
But I must go. Good-bye, most lovely land !
Thy smile is still the smile of youth's bright ago; The gods have touched thee with a magic wand, Perpetual sunshine is thine heritage. R. RANKIN.
Previous page
