Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79. | | | | Thames, the River | | The Frozen River | | John Gay (1685–1732) |
| | (From Trivia)
O ROVING Muse! recall that wondrous year | |
| When winter reigned in bleak Britannia’s air; | |
| When hoary Thames, with frosted osiers crowned, | |
| Was three long moons in icy fetters bound. | |
| The waterman, forlorn, along the shore, | 5 |
| Pensive reclines upon his useless oar: | |
| See harnessed steeds desert the stony town, | |
| And wander roads unstable not their own; | |
| Wheels o’er the hardened water smoothly glide, | |
| And raze with whitened tracks the slippery tide; | 10 |
| Here the fat cook piles high the blazing fire, | |
| And scarce the spit can turn the steer entire; | |
| Booths sudden hide the Thames, long streets appear, | |
| And numerous games proclaim the crowded fair. | |
| So, when the general bids the martial train | 15 |
| Spread their encampment o’er the spacious plain, | |
| Thick-rising tents a canvas city build, | |
| And the loud dice resound through all the field. | | | | |
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