Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By Robert CharlesSands

147 The Green Isle of Lovers

THEY say that, afar in the land of the west,

Where the bright golden sun sinks in glory to rest,

Mid ferns where the hunter ne’er ventured to tread,

A fair lake unruffled and sparkling is spread;

Where, lost in his course, the rapt Indian discovers,

In distance seen dimly, the green Isle of Lovers.

There verdure fades never; immortal in bloom,

Soft waves the magnolia its groves of perfume;

And low bends the branch with rich fruitage depressed,

All glowing like gems in the crowns of the east;

There the bright eye of nature in mild glory hovers;

’T is the land of the sunbeam,—the green Isle of Lovers!

Sweet strains wildly float on the breezes that kiss

The calm-flowing lake round that region of bliss

Where, wreathing their garlands of amaranth, fair choirs

Glad measures still weave to the sound that inspires

The dance and the revel, mid forests that cover

On high with their shade the green Isle of the Lover.

But fierce as the snake, with his eyeballs of fire,

When his scales are all brilliant and glowing with ire,

Are the warriors to all save the maids of their isle,

Whose law is their will, and whose life is their smile;

From beauty there valor and strength are not rovers,

And peace reigns supreme in the green Isle of Lovers.

And he who has sought to set foot on its shore,

In mazes perplexed, has beheld it no more;

It fleets on the vision, deluding the view,

Its banks still retire as the hunters pursue;

O! who in this vain world of woe shall discover

The home undisturbed, the green Isle of the Lover!