Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79. | | | | Keswick | | Keswick | | Robert Southey (1774–1843) |
| | (From The Poet’s Pilgrimage)
ONCE more I see thee, Skiddaw! once again | |
| Behold thee in thy majesty serene, | |
| Where, like the bulwark of this favored plain, | |
| Alone thou standest, monarch of the scene,— | |
| Thou glorious mountain, on whose ample breast | 5 |
| The sunbeams love to play, the vapors love to rest. | |
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| Once more, O Derwent! to thy awful shores | |
| I come, insatiate of the accustomed sight, | |
| And, listening as the eternal torrent roars, | |
| Drink in with eye and ear a fresh delight; | 10 |
| For I have wandered far by land and sea, | |
| In all my wanderings still remembering thee. | |
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| Twelve years, (how large a part of man’s brief day!) | |
| Nor idly nor ingloriously spent, | |
| Of evil and of good have held their way, | 15 |
| Since first upon thy banks I pitched my tent. | |
| Hither I came in manhood’s active prime, | |
| And here my head hath felt the touch of time. | |
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| Heaven hath with goodly increase blest me here, | |
| Where childless and oppressed with grief I came; | 20 |
| With voice of fervent thankfulness sincere, | |
| Let me the blessings which are mine proclaim: | |
| Here I possess—what more should I require?— | |
| Books, children, leisure,—all my heart’s desire. * * * * * | | | | |
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