In the Far West Where the sun is glorified, Where the pale stars seem to weep, Where the moon hangs like a pearl, I wandered naked, free and wild, A child of earth and air alone.

O winds, that serenade the strife And the silence of the night, Breathe on me, I plead, and bring The echo of the unknown bliss — The far heart of the wilderness,

That sings all night, beneath the stars. It sings great miles to my feet, It sings a secret power bare, That longs for dreams awakened here.

For here, in this resplendent waste, The heart shall start to beat anew, And know again a boundless love, An endless yearning — unfulfilled — That rings these woods and winds with joy.

— Excerpt from “The Far West” (not an actual poem of Melville)

• Herman Melville