IT was a little peaceful bay
1
Beneath the precipices grey,
2
Lay deep and blue and calm, but clear As is the sapphire; and you saw The precipices sharp and sheer,
And the white cloudsʼ careering war, And the blue sky, and the high hills ʼNeath the cold waters where they slept Seemed fed by thousand mountain rills Flowed upward from the crystal depth.
And all along that quiet bay
a
A range of little shipping lay, With their red flags drooped downward right, And sheltered by their awnings white From the high sunʼs red, scorching look,
That oʼer the living waters shook A blaze of hot and swarthy glow. When we had launchèd from below The shade of the tall cliffs, and came Where Como rolled his breast of flame,
Down southward winding far away, The olivesʼ tints of gentle grey Stooped to his borders, from between The hillsʼ uncultivated green. And orange‐groves him girded round,
Blossoming oʼer him fragrantly; And in the sleep of his profound White villages shone silently.
b
And from our prow the rippleʼs flash Threw forth its little sparkles paly;
The light sound of the oarsʼ dash Came dancing on the waters gaily. There was blue above, and blue below, And the gleam of the eternal snow. Forth from the fastnesses it came
Of the high Alpsʼ retiring chain.
c
And all along the shore, whereʼer The storm‐winds wont to chafe the wave, The crucifix is shrined there; That Christ may hear the passioned prayer