There never falls the rain-cloud as with us,
  Nor gapes the earth with the dry summer’s thirst,
But liquid streams, wondrously curious,
  Out of the ground with fresh fair bubbling burst. 
Sea-cold and bright the pleasant waters glide
  Over the soil, and through the shady bowers;
Flowers fling their coloured radiance o’er the tide,
  And the bright streams their crystal o’er the flowers.

Such was the land for man’s enjoyment made,
  When from this troubled life his soul doth wend: 
Such was the land through which entranced we strayed,
  For fifteen days, nor reached its bound nor end. 
Onward we wandered in a blissful dream,
  Nor thought of food, nor needed earthly rest;
Until, at length, we reached a mighty stream,
  Whose broad bright waves flowed from the east to west.

We were about to cross its placid tide,
  When, lo! an angel on our vision broke,
Clothed in white, upon the further side
  He stood majestic, and thus sweetly spoke: 
“Father, return, thy mission now is o’er;
  God, who did call thee here, now bids thee go,
Return in peace unto thy native shore,
  And tell the mighty secrets thou dost know.

“In after years, in God’s own fitting time,
  This pleasant land again shall re-appear;
And other men shall preach the truths sublime,
  To the benighted people dwelling here. 
But ere that hour this land shall all be made,
  For mortal man, a fitting, natural home,
Then shall the giant mountain fling its shade,
  And the strong rock stem the white torrent’s foam.

“Seek thy own isle—­Christ’s newly-bought domain,
  Which Nature with an emerald pencil paints: 
Such as it is, long, long shall it remain,
  The school of Truth, the College of the Saints,
The student’s bower, the hermit’s calm retreat,
  The stranger’s home, the hospitable hearth,
The shrine to which shall wander pilgrim feet
  From all the neighbouring nations of the earth.

“But in the end upon that land shall fall
  A bitter scourge, a lasting flood of tears,
When ruthless tyranny shall level all
  The pious trophies of its early years: 
Then shall this land prove thy poor country’s friend,
  And shine a second Eden in the west;
Then shall this shore its friendly arms extend,
  And clasp the outcast exile to its breast.”

He ceased and vanished from our dazzled sight,
  While harps and sacred hymns rang sweetly o’er
For us again we winged our homeward flight
  O’er the great ocean to our native shore;
And as a proof of God’s protecting hand,
  And of the wondrous tidings that we bear,
The fragrant perfume of that heavenly land
  Clings to the very garments that we wear.[76]

53.  So called from the number of holy men and women formerly inhabiting it.

54.  The Atlantic was so named by the ancient Irish.