Sappho and Phaon: Sonnet XXXI

FAR o'er the waves my lofty bark shall glide,
Love's frequent sighs the flutt'ring sails shall swell,
While to my native home I bid farewell,
Hope's snowy hand the burnish'd helm shall guide !
Tritons shall sport amidst the yielding tide,
Myriads of Cupids round the prow shall dwell,
And Venus, thron'd within her opal shell,
Shall proudly o'er the glitt'ring billows ride !
Young dolphins, dashing in the golden spray,
Shall with their scaly forms illume the deep,
Ting'd with the purple flush of sinking day,
Whose flaming wreath shall crown the distant steep :
While on the breezy deck soft minstrels play,
And songs of love, the lover sooth to sleep !