A TRAVELLER'S TESTIMONY.
I.
Green-vested land, with emeralds strewn,
Wherever wends the pilgrim weary,
With faltering steps and dusty shoon,
From Rhine to Loire—from Baste to Erie.
He feels still freshlier o'er his heart
Rush the remembrance of thy beauty;
And owns, all peerless as thou art,
To love thee, both his joy and duty.
II.
Romantic land! in other climes
Far brighter suns the skies illumine;
In the warm south, 'mid vesper chimes,
More dazzlingly bright-eyed is woman.
But sunlight there like lightning burns,
While thine streams soft as crystal waters;
Too warm the southern maids, and turns
The yearning breast to Erin's daughters.
III.
Oh, matchless land! so well combine
Thy elements of cloud and splendour,
That earth no valleys boast like thine,
Enamelled with a green so tender!
So well in Erin, too, are mixed
The elements of wit and honour,
That other nations' eyes are fixed
In hopeless rivalry upon her!