Sorrento

The memories of Sorrento
   Go back thro' many a year;
And many a sad memento
   Of golden days lies here;
For ti-tree, all wind-riven,
   That clothes her sandy hills,
Hides also men unshriven
   Of many ancient ills.

But tho' she knew the sadness
   Of brief, long-gone duress,
She now retrieves in gladness
   Her earlier loveliness.
Tho' she was once deserted
   And counted worthless then,
Her pride is reasserted
   By freer, happier men.

The Queen State's eldest daughter,
   To sweet, wild beauty grown,
Twixt sea and calm bay water,
   Here has set her throne.
And they who come to woo her
   By bay or ocean shore
Scarce know which to praise to her,
   Or which admire the more.

For she is rich in treasure
   Of rare variety,
And offers in full measure
   All gifts of shore and sea.
The Queen State's oldest daughter,
   Grown youthful with the years
Beside her sparkling water,
   Shorn of all old time fears.