The poetess Helga Steinunn Baldvinsdóttir, who adopted the pen name Undína, was one of the many who sailed west in the late summer of 1873, at the age of 16. She wrote the following poem at that time.

The trusty vessel must convey
a pallid maiden on waves
frosty island of ice away
out on the blue ocean way

Now on a wave of salty sea
the sun it does descend
just as the gentle tears proceed
which from a mournful eye fall free

Gone is the peak, gone is the farm
gone so abruptly the valley
gone is the spring, so crystal-clear
gone the beloved, far and near

Farewell to a woman and hearty man
farewell to the grove in flower
farewell to my truly cherished land
farewell to the times now passed at hand