The sea was sapphire coloured, and the sky
Burned like a heated opal through the air;
We hoisted sail; the wind was blowing fair
For the blue lands that to the eastward lie.
From the steep prow I marked with quickening eye
Zakynthos, every olive grove and creek,
Ithaca's cliff, Lycaon's snowy peak,
And all the flower-strewn hills of Arcady.
The flapping of the sail against the mast,
The ripple of the water on the side,
The ripple of girls' laughter at the stern,
The only sounds:- when 'gan the West to burn,
And a red sun upon the seas to ride,
I stood upon the soil of Greece at last!
This is in the sonnet form ABBA-ACCA-DEFFED. Its a pretty good poem I think but not the best I've ever seen. The imagery is nice (sapphire/opal/red sun upon the sea) . I like the fact that the poet uses sounds in the sestet at the end. All in all though it really is just about the voyage nothing more which leave it a little flat I think.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
it was 1877 when Oscar Wilde visited Greece, with a group of students (prof. Mahaffy's students)