Northward.

Under the high unclouded sun     That makes the ship and shadow one,         I sail away as from the fort     Booms sullenly the noonday gun.     The odorous airs blow thin and fine,     The sparkling waves like emeralds shine,         The lustre of the coral reefs     Gleams whitely through the tepid brine.     And glitters o'er the liquid miles     The jewelled ring of verdant isles,         Where generous Nature holds her court     Of ripened bloom and sunny smiles.     Encinctured by the faithful seas     Inviolate gardens load the breeze,         Where flaunt like giant-warders' plumes     The pennants of the cocoa-trees.     Enthroned in light and bathed in balm,     In lonely majesty the Palm         Blesses the isles with waving hands, -     High-Priest of the eternal Calm.     Yet Northward with an equal mind     I steer my course, and leave behind         The rapture of the Southern skies, -     The wooing of the Southern wind.     For here o'er Nature's wanton bloom     Falls far and near the shade of gloom,         Cast from the hovering vulture-wings     Of one dark thought of woe and doom.     I know that in the snow-white pines     The brave Norse fire of freedom shines,         And fain for this I leave the land     Where endless summer pranks the vines.     O strong, free North, so wise and brave!     O South, too lovely for a slave!         Why read ye not the changeless truth, -     The free can conquer but to save?     May God upon these shining sands     Send Love and Victory clasping hands,         And Freedom's banners wave in peace     For ever o'er the rescued lands!     And here, in that triumphant hour,     Shall yielding beauty wed with power;         And blushing earth and smiling sea     In dalliance deck the bridal bower.     KEY WEST, 1864.