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THE SOUTH AMERICAN'S FAREWELL TO HIS NATIVE
LAND.[1]
From the Spanish of Heraclio Guardia, A South American Poet
By Mrs. Bushby.
Adios—adios—América, te dejo.
Adieu—adieu—America! I leave
Thy smiling land so loved by me;
Yet to depart from thee, I deeply grieve,
Enchanting Queen of the vast Western Sea.
Upon thy glittering sands, thy pearly shore,
Fall, mingling with the waves, my tears;
My eyes, with gloom funereal, wander o'er
Thy flower-clad forest depths, to me so dear.
Oh, mother! wilt thou not forget thy son,
In distant regions though he strays;
One souvenir of love—oh! only one
He asks, to animate his future lays.
To him, midst climes however far remote.
Thy scenes shall ever present be;
His lute shall never yield another note
Than those that blend with memory of thee.
Oh! wilt thou smile compassionately now
Upon this last, this parting strain?
And if, in future days, Fate may allow,
Wilt thou receive the wanderer back again?
Adieu—Queen of the bright New World! whose brows
With rays of radiant light are crowned;
Whose every lofty mountain-summit bows
But to the clouds of heaven that circle round.
Within thy realms nature is ever grand;
There, mighty hurricanes arise
To sweep, destroying, over sea and land,
Where'er their course strange and tempestuous lies.
Upon thy torrents shall I gaze no more;
Thy cataracts, whose foamy spray
Looks, rising from the rocks which they dash o'er,
Like birds of snowy plume, flutt'ring away.
- ↑ Printed at Caraccas.
