Cross but this rocky height, and lo!
A valley rare as Rasselas
Found in the Abyssinian pass,
With warmth and beauty all aglow!
Where for Tartar mosque and royal villa
Is many a shining porphyry pillar,
With marbles for arch and floor and stair
Veined with vermilion or amber-fair;
And fountains fed by the rills that fall
Cool and clear from the mountain wall.
Where the olive and orange and nectarine
Ripen the sea-side gardens in,
And the winds are sweet as the breeze that sighs
Over the meadows of Paradise!—
Yea, and the Blessed there might crave
Alupka, pride of the cliff and wave!