Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Asia: Vols. XXI–XXIII. 1876–79.
Malabar
By William Lisle Bowles (17621850)N
That glows with stars, they watch, till morning bears
Airs of sweet fragrance o’er the yellow tide;
Then Malabar her green declivities
Hangs beauteous, beaming to the eye afar
Like scenes of pictured bliss, the shadowy land
Of soft enchantment. Now Salmala’s peak
Shines high in air, and Ceylon’s dark green woods
Beneath are spread; while as the strangers wind
Along the curving shores, sounds of delight
Are heard; and birds of richest plumage, red
And yellow, glance along the shades; or fly
With morning twitter, circling o’er the mast,
As singing welcome to the weary crew.
Here rest, till westering gales again invite.
Then o’er the line of level seas glide on,
As the green deities of ocean guide,
Till Ophir’s distant hills spring from the main,
And their long labors cease.