Off Cape Colonna
Herman Melville
Aloof they crown the foreland lone,
From aloft they loftier rise--
Fair columns, in the aureole rolled
From sunned Greek seas and skies.
They wax, sublimed to fancy's view,
A god-like group against the blue.
Over much like gods! Serene they saw
The wolf-waves board the deck,
And headlong hull of Falconer,
And many a deadlier wreck.
On the cliffs of Cape Colonna, also known as Cape Sunion (Greek) or Sunium (Latin), stand the ruins of the temple of Poseidon, God of the Sea to the Ancient Greeks.
