Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79. | | | | Woodstock | | For a Statue of Chaucer at Woodstock | | Mark Akenside (1721–1770) |
| | | SUCH was old Chaucer. Such the placid mien | |
| Of him who first with harmony informed | |
| The language of our fathers. Here he dwelt | |
| For many a cheerful day. These ancient walls | |
| Have often heard him while his legends blithe | 5 |
| He sang of love or knighthood, or the wiles | |
| Of homely life, through each estate and age, | |
| The fashions and the follies of the world | |
| With cunning hand portraying. Though perchance | |
| From Blenheim’s towers, O stranger! thou art come | 10 |
| Glowing with Churchill’s trophies, yet in vain | |
| Dost thou applaud them if thy breast be cold | |
| To him, this other hero, who in times | |
| Dark and untaught, began with charming verse | |
| To tame the rudeness of his native land. | 15 | | | |
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