Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79. | | | | Rydal | | Composed at Rydal, September, 1860 | | Aubrey Thomas de Vere (1814–1902) |
| | | THE LAST great man by manlier times bequeathed | |
| To these our noisy and self-boasting days | |
| In this green valley rested, trod these ways, | |
| With deep calm breast this air inspiring breathed; | |
| True bard, because true man, his brow he wreathed | 5 |
| With wild-flowers only, singing Nature’s praise; | |
| But Nature turned, and crowned him with her bays, | |
| And said, “Be thou my Laureate.” Wisdom sheathed | |
| In song love-humble; contemplations high, | |
| That built like larks their nests upon the ground; | 10 |
| Insight and vision; sympathies profound | |
| That spanned the total of humanity,— | |
| These were the gifts which God poured forth at large | |
| On men through him; and he was faithful to his charge. | | | | |
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