In the Blue of Summer

Island in blue of summer floating on,

Little brave sister of the Sporades,[1]

Hail and farewell!  I pass, and thou are gone,

So fast in fire the great boat beats the seas.

But slowly fade, soft Island!  Ah to know

Thy town and who the gossips of that town,

What flowers flash in thy meadows, what winds blow

Across thy mountain when the sun goes down.

James Elroy Flecker[2]

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[1] The Sporades are an island chain along the east coast of Greece.

[2] James Elroy Flecker (1884-1915) was educated at Dean Close School, Cheltenham, where his father was headmaster, and at Uppingham and Trinity College, Oxford.  After university he joined the Diplomatic Service, spending time in Constantinople and Beirut. In 1913 he went to Switzerland to seek a cure for his tuberculosis but died there two years later at the age of 31.

He produced a prolific volume of poetry during his short life including The Bridge of Fire (1907), Forty-Two Poems (1911), The Golden Journey to Samarkand (1913), and The Old Ships (1915).  (Source: englishverse.com)