Where Sydney Cove her lucid bosom swells, <br />And with wide arms the indignant storm repels; <br />High on a rock amid the troubled air <br />Hope stood sublime, and waved her golden hair; <br />Calmed with her rosy smile the tossing deep, <br />And with sweet accents charmed the winds to sleep; <br />To each wild plain she stretched her snowy hand, <br />High-waving wood, and sea-encircled strand. <br />'Hear me,' she cried, 'ye rising realms! record <br />Time's opening scenes, and Truth's prophetic word. <br />There shall broad streets their stately walls extend, <br />The circus widen, and the crescent bend; <br />There, rayed from cities o'er the cultured land, <br />Shall bright canals, and solid roads expand. <br />There the proud arch, colossus-like, bestride <br />Yon glittering streams, and bound the chasing tide; <br />Embellished villas crown the landscape-scene, <br />Farms wave with gold, and orchards blush between. <br />There shall tall spires, and dome-capped towers ascend, <br />And piers and quays their massy structures blend; <br />While with each breeze approaching vessels glide, <br />And northern treasures dance on every tide!' <br />Then ceased the nymph - tumultuous echoes roar, <br />And Joy's loud voice was heard from shore to shore - <br />Her graceful steps descending pressed the plain, <br />And Peace, and Art, and Labour, joined her train.<br /><br />Erasmus Darwin<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/visit-of-hope-to-sydney-cove-near-botany-bay/
