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TRIBUTE TO BURLINGTON, by                    
First Line: Fair burlington! I bring a song to thee
Last Line: Thou lovely naples of our midland sea!
Subject(s): Burlington, Vermont


FAIR BURLINGTON; I bring a song to thee,
Thou lovely Naples of our Midland Sea!

From verdant base here Mansfield rises high;
There White-Face, Marcy, pierce the western sky;
The lake of tremulous silver lies between,
And hamlets, woodlands, meadows, fill the scene.
Here peaceful labor cultivates the vale;
Here prosperous commerce spreads the swelling sail;
Here gentle manners social life refine;
Here learning keeps her consecrated shrine;
Here faith allegiant to one common Lord
Rears varying temples in divine accord,
And charity, in gentle woman's guise,
Brings home and healing to life's maladies.
Thou city fair! in summer verdure drest—
Like maiden love, more hidden than confest;
From out embowering trees thy mansions rise,
Mid lawns that smile with blooms of Paradise.
And where shall limning fancy find the power
To point the beauty of thy sunset hour?

The traveler lingering on the Pincian heights
When all the west a golden glory lights—
The "Eternal City" in the gray below—
Afar, the darkening dome of Angelo—
Hath seen no vision of Italian sky
To hold with thine an equal rivalry,
For broader far thy mountain-bounded west,
From lofty Dix to Dannemora's crest—
And broader far the vale where, quiet, sleep
The waters which thy mountain-sentries keep.

O matchless splendors! never sung nor told—
Now golden purple, now empurpled gold!
O'er mount and plain the heavens their tints diffuse,
And tinge the waves with iridescent hues.
And now, when slowly fades departing day,
The moon, full-orbed, walks her celestial way,
And, bathing all things in her silver light,
Prolongs the beauty through the slumbering night.

Fair Burlington! accept this song to thee—
Thou lovely Naples of our Midland Sea!





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