O, The Isle of the Blessed

Words to the Wise - Vol. 01.01

O, The Isle of the Blessed

On the south side of the earth
lay an everlasting place
close to the Stream of the Ocean
and favored by the gods;
inhabited by a happy race,
a place called
the Isle of the Blessed.

Here, lofty mountains,
whose bliss sprang beyond
the Dawn, the Sun, and the Moon,
gave light to gods and men;
transported by the stars
beyond the piercing blasts of
toil and warfare.

In those Fortunate Fields
by the Stream of the Ocean,
their conch shells never blow.
Death,
disease,
and old age
whither into immortality.
Their imagination sun-bright
and carried on the North Wind.

O, nations of that peculiar place
who know so little of earth and grace,
want not to leave.
When giants, monsters, and enchantresses
roam these lands and seas,
enjoy your Golden Gardens,
your banquets and your rest,
on the Isle of the Blessed.

Source Material: Bulfinch, Thomas. “Bulfinch’s Mythology: Stories of Gods and Heroes.”, Canterbury Classics, 2015, pp. 8