Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Americas: Vol. XXX. 1876–79. | | | | British America: Quebec, Canada | | To the Ursulines | | Caroline Gilman (1794–1888) |
| | | O PURE and gentle ones, within your ark | |
| Securely rest! | |
| Blue be the sky above,—your quiet bark | |
| By soft winds blest! | |
| |
| Still toil in duty and commune with heaven, | 5 |
| World-weaned and free; | |
| God to his humblest creatures room has given, | |
| And space to be. | |
| |
| Space for the eagle in the vaulted sky | |
| To plume his wing,— | 10 |
| Space for the ring-dove by her young to lie, | |
| And softly sing. | |
| |
| Space for the sunflower, bright with yellow glow, | |
| To court the sky,— | |
| Space for the violet, where the wild woods grow, | 15 |
| To live and die. | |
| |
| Space for the ocean in its giant might | |
| To swell and rave,— | |
| Space for the river, tinged with rosy light, | |
| Where green banks wave. | 20 |
| |
| Space for the sun, to tread his path in might, | |
| And golden pride,— | |
| Space for the glowworm, calling by her light | |
| Love to her side. | |
| |
| Then, pure and gentle ones, within your ark | 25 |
| Securely rest! | |
| Blue be the skies above, and your still bark | |
| By kind winds blest. | | | | |
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