Classic Poem

A SHINING stretch of wind-swept beach,
With sand dunes girt about,
And piping birds just out of reach
Where waves dance in and out,

With bluest sky arched overhead
Reflected in wet sand,
And bluest sea before it spread,
Bound fast with rocky band.

A languid river slowly glides
With the soft Indian name,
With current flowing with the tides
Or north or south the same;

And Cormorant to guard it lies
Black, rising from the sea,
With foam about it girdle-wise,
What is it all to me?

On every coast are beaches fair,
And rocks in plenty stand,
But ah, they bask not in the air
Of Narragansett land!