Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Ireland: Vol. V. 1876–79. | | | | Appendix: Kilkee | | The Sea-Cliffs of Kilkee | | Sir Aubrey de Vere (1788–1846) |
| | | AWFULLY beautiful art thou, O sea! | |
| Viewed from the vantage of these giant rocks | |
| That vast in air lift their primeval blocks, | |
| Screening the sandy cove of lone Kilkee. | |
| Cautious, with outstretched arm and bended knee, | 5 |
| I scan the dread abyss, till the depth mocks | |
| My straining eyeballs, and the eternal shocks | |
| Of billows rolling from infinity | |
| Disturb my brain. Hark! the shrill sea-bird’s scream! | |
| Cloud-like they sweep the long wave’s sapphire gleam, | 10 |
| Ere the poised osprey stoop in wrath from high. | |
| Here man, alone, is naught; Nature supreme, | |
| Where all is simply great that meets the eye,— | |
| The precipice, the ocean, and the sky. | | | | |
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