Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Russia: Vol. XX. 1876–79.

Odessa

Odessa

By Edna Dean Proctor (1829–1923)

DREAMING and looking seaward,

No longer the warders wait,

Guard of the Crescent banner,

Gleaming on tower and gate,—

The banner unfurled by the Prophet,

The banner in league with Fate.

Nor boom the guns of the Fortress,

When sunset airs blow free,

While the warriors kneel, as the echoes

Die over steppe and sea,—

Kneel and pray that the Moslem

Lord of the world may be.

Gone are the Turk, and the Crescent,

And the Fortress of Khodja Bey;

And lo! in their place, Odessa,

And the Russ with a grander sway,—

The Russ and the Royal Eagle,

That makes the Fate his prey!