Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79. | | | | Ross | | Lines | | Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) |
| | Written at the King’s Arms, Ross, Formerly the House of “The Man of Ross” |
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RICHER than miser o’er his countless hoards, | |
| Nobler than kings or king-polluted lords, | |
| Here dwelt the Man of Ross! O traveller, hear! | |
| Departed merit claims a reverent tear. | |
| Friend to the friendless, to the sick man health, | 5 |
| With generous joy he viewed his modest wealth; | |
| He heard the widow’s heaven-breathed prayer of praise, | |
| He marked the sheltered orphan’s tearful gaze, | |
| Or where the sorrow-shrivelled captive lay, | |
| Poured the bright blaze of freedom’s noontide ray. | 10 |
| Beneath this roof if thy cheered moments pass, | |
| Fill to the good man’s name one grateful glass: | |
| To higher zest shall memory wake thy soul, | |
| And virtue mingle in the ennobled bowl. | |
| But if, like me, through life’s distressful scene | 15 |
| Lonely and sad thy pilgrimage hath been, | |
| And if, thy breast with heart-sick anguish fraught, | |
| Thou journeyest onward tempest-tossed in thought, | |
| Here cheat thy cares! in generous visions melt, | |
| And dream of goodness thou hast never felt! | 20 | | |
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