To the Adriatic

I have beheld you, Adriatic, I have beheld you, A nymph from the twinkling heavens Sparkling with pearls, your breasts Heaving gracefully like a sylph's.

I knelt before you as before a goddess, An apparition of untold beauty. The rapture I felt, I could not endure, And departed, tears streaming down my cheeks.

Like molten gold you shimmer, A fabled palace full of magic, You sway like maidens in the meadow.

Of youthful grace is your rise and fall, Sweet memories, a world of wonder Like a vision of divinity itself.