LONG TIME I LAY IN LITTLE EASE <br /> <br /> <br />LONG time I lay in little ease <br />Where, placed by the Turanian, <br />Marseilles, the many-masted, sees <br />The blue Mediterranean. <br /> <br />Now songful in the hour of sport, <br />Now riotous for wages, <br />She camps around her ancient port, <br />As ancient of the ages. <br /> <br />Algerian airs through all the place <br />Unconquerably sally; <br />Incomparable women pace <br />The shadows of the alley. <br /> <br />And high o'er dark and graving yard <br />And where the sky is paler, <br />The golden virgin of the guard <br />Shines, beckoning the sailor. <br /> <br />She hears the city roar on high, <br />Thief, prostitute, and banker; <br />She sees the masted vessels lie <br />Immovably at anchor. <br /> <br />She sees the snowy islets dot <br />The sea's immortal azure, <br />And If, that castellated spot, <br />Tower, turret, and embrasure.<br /><br />Robert Louis Stevenson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/long-time-i-lay-in-little-ease/
