Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.

Arun, the River

Written on the Banks of the Arun

By Charlotte Smith (1749–1806)

WHEN latest autumn spreads her evening veil,

And the gray mists from these dim waves arise,

I love to listen to the hollow sighs

Through the half leafless wood that breathes the gale.

For at such hours the shadowy phantom pale,

Oft seems to fleet before the poet’s eyes;

Strange sounds are heard, and mournful melodies

As of night-wanderers who their woes bewail.

Here by his native stream, at such an hour,

Pity’s own Otway I methinks could meet

And hear his deep sighs swell the saddened wind!

O Melancholy, such thy magic power

That to the soul these dreams are often sweet

And soothe the pensive visionary mind.