My sister, my dear Consider how fair, Together to live it would be! Down yonder to fly To love, till we die, In the land which resembles thee. Those suns that rise 'Neath erratic skies, —No charm could be like unto theirs— So strange and divine, Like those eyes of thine Which glow in the midst of their tears. There, all is order and loveliness, Luxury, calm and voluptuousness. The tables and chairs, Polished bright by the years, Would decorate sweetly our rooms, And the rarest of flowers Would twine round our bowers And mingle their amber perfumes: The ceilings arrayed, And the mirrors inlaid,
This Eastern splendour among, Would furtively steal O'er our souls, and appeal With its tranquillous native tongue. There, all is order and loveliness, Luxury, calm and voluptuousness. In the harbours, peep, At the vessels asleep (Their humour is always to roam), Yet it is but to grant Thy smallest want From the ends of the earth that they come, The sunsets beam Upon meadow and stream, And upon the city entire 'Neath a violet crest, The world sinks to rest, Illumed by a golden fire. There, all is order and loveliness, Luxury, calm and voluptuousness.