Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Americas: Vol. XXX. 1876–79.
Quebec
By Alfred Billings Street (1811–1881)I
Quebec, the rock-throned monarch, glowed,—
Castle and spire and dwelling gray
The batteries rude that niched their way
Along the cliff, beneath the play
Of the deep yellow light, were gay,
And the curved flood, below that lay,
In flashing glory flowed;
Beyond, the sweet and mellow smile
Beamed upon Orleans’ lovely isle;
Until the downward view
Was closed by mountain-tops that, reared
Against the burnished sky, appeared
In misty, dreamy hue.
The forests in their wild repose.
Between the trunks, the radiance slim
Here came with slant and quivering blaze;
Whilst there, in leaf-wreathed arbors dim,
Was gathering gray the twilight’s haze.
Where cut the boughs the background glow
That striped the west, a glittering belt,
The leaves transparent seemed, as though
In the rich radiance they would melt.
Where thickets stood in grouping shade,
The light streaked down in golden mist,
Kindled the shrubs, the greensward kissed,
Until the clover-blossoms white
Flashed out like spangles large and bright.