Sonnet XLII
To G. W. C. August 1, 1846.
THE day so long remembered comes again.
The years have vanished. On the vessel’s deck
We stand and wave adieux, until a speck
Our bark appears to friends whose eyes would fain
Follow our voyage o’er the unknown main.
Shadows of sails and masts and rigging fleck
The sunlit ship. The captain’s call and beck
Hurry the cheery sailors as they strain
The windy sheets; while we in careless mood
Gaze on the silver clouds and azure sea,
Filled with old ocean’s novel solitude,
And dream of that new life of Italy,
The golden fleece for which we sailed away,
Whose splendor freshens this memorial day.
