Shetland.
Adieu ! the cliffs that front the wave,1
Rolled from the icebergs’ sullen home ;2
Adieu ! the rapid firths that rave,3
The rugged skerries, plumed with foam.4
Adieu ! the gloom, the grandeur hoar,5
The majesty of surge and storm ;6
My heart shall keep for evermore,7
Wild shore, thy wonder and thy charm.8
No woodland wreathes thy brows austere ;9
No teeming levels wave with corn ;10
No voice of song salutes the ear11
From leafy perch at eve or morn.12
Yet thine the might of mountain steeps,13
And purple robes on mountain sides,14
And thine the strain that never sleeps,15
The thunder of Atlantic tides.16
Nor yet of joyous life bereft,17
Thy waters roll, thy mountains soar,18
For myriad wings from crag and cleft19
Swarm forth to whiten sea and shore :20
In endless rings the sea-mew flits ;21
The gannet like an arrow falls ;22
And swart and grim the cormorant sits23
On jagged reefs and rocky walls.24
Stern in the storm, that hurls on thee25
The cataract billows’ headlong snows,26
Thy rocky ramparts to the sea27
Their everlasting strength oppose.28
But when thy wave unrippled drinks29
The splendour of a setting sun,30
How glorious are thy craggy brinks,31
Thine islets green, and mountains dun !32