Hellas to Aubrey De Vere on His Departure

Traveller! thou from afar that explorest the caverns of Delphi,
Led by the Muses, whose voice thou rememberest, heard over ocean,
Tell the benighted at home that the spirit hath never departed
Hence, from these cliffs and these streams: that Apollo is still
King Apollo,
And that no other should rule where Olympus, Parnassus, and
Pindus
Are what they were, ages past; that, if barbarous bands have
invaded
Temple and shrine heretofore, it is time the reproach be abolisht,
Time that the wrong be redrest, and the stranger no more be the
ruler.
Whether be heard or unheard the complaint of our vallies and
mountains,
From the snow-piles overhead to the furthermost island of Pelops,
Peace be to thee and to thine! And, if Deities hear under water,
Blandly may Panope clasp and with fervour the knee of Poseidon!
Blandly may Cymodameia prevail over Glaucos, dividing
With both her hands his white beard and kissing it just in the
middle,
So that the seas be serene which shall carry thee back to thy
country
Where the sun sinks to repose. But ever be mindful of Hellas!