William Lisle Bowles

Sonnet 14. On a Distant View of England

Ah! from my eyes the tears unbidden start,
ALBION! as now thy cliffs (that bright appear
Far o'er the wave, and their proud summits rear
To meet the beams of morn) my beating heart,
With eager hope, and filial transport hails!
Scenes of my youth, reviving gales ye bring,
As when, ere while, the tuneful morn of spring
Joyous awoke amid your blooming vales.
And fill'd with fragrance every breathing plain;—
Fled are those hours, and all the joys they gave,
Yet still I sigh, and count each rising wave,
That bears me nearer to your shores again;
If haply, 'mid the woods and vales so fair,
Stranger to Peace! I yet may meet her there.