James Nisbet, "Amalfi", 1844

SONNET XVIII.

AMALFI.

IF Nature be one mighty instrument

To touch the springs of the uncultur❜d mind ;

If valleys green, fann'd by the Southern wind,

Invite the wanderer there to pitch his tent

And plough a grateful soil ; if streams were sent ,

And rushing rivers, that the brave might find

A pathway to the Ocean ; if the hind,

In rocks up-piled or by an earthquake rent,

Sees the rude model of a fane or tower

Then, O Amalfi ! unto thee by Heaven

Thy wild sweet beauty as a charm was given,

To wake the genius of pictorial power ;

Thy fairy shores, glass'd in that glittering wave,

We long to paint and in our hearts engrave.