THE ISLE AND STAR.
Reading edition
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BY GEO. D. PRENTICE.
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In the tropical seas
There’s a beautiful isle,
Where storms never darken
The sunlight’s soft smile.
There the hymn of the breeze
And the hymn of the stream
Are mingled in one,
Like sweet sounds in a dream.
There the song-birds at morn
From the thick shadows start,
Like musical thoughts
From the poet’s full heart.
There the song-birds at noon
Sit in silence unbroken,
Like an exquisite dream
In the bosom unspoken.
There the flowers hang, like rainbows,
On wildwood and lea—
O, say, wilt thou dwell
In that sweet isle with me?
In the depths of the sky
There’s a beautiful star,
Where no yew casts a shadow
The bright scene to mar.
There the rainbows ne’er fade,
And the dews are ne’er dry
And a circlet of moons
Ever shines in the sky.
There the songs of the blest,
And the songs of the spheres,
Are unceasingly heard
Through the infinite years.
There the soft airs float down
From the amaranth bowers,
All faint with the perfume
Of Eden’s own flowers.
There truth, love and beauty
Immortal will be—
O, say, wilt thou dwell
In that sweet star with me?