Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Garda (Benacus), the Lake | | Vino Santo | | Helen Hunt Jackson (1830–1885) |
| | | ONCE I read a strange, sweet story, | |
| Of a sacred snowy wine, | |
| Made by peasants on Lake Garda, | |
| Brewed beneath the cross’s sign; | |
| Vino Santo called forever, | 5 |
| Sealed with seal of things divine,— | |
| Vino Santo, Holy Wine! | |
| |
| On the first days of October, | |
| Only in a shining sun, | |
| Only in the dew of morning, | 10 |
| Clusters lifted one by one; | |
| Thus begins the solemn vintage, | |
| Vintage with the cross for sign,— | |
| Vino Santo, Holy Wine! | |
| |
| Pales the autumn, falls the winter, | 15 |
| Lie the grapes untouched and still; | |
| No man hastes and no man hinders | |
| While their subtle juices fill, | |
| Till the sacred day of Christmas, | |
| Day of days, of joy divine, | 20 |
| Then is brewed the Holy Wine. | |
| |
| Past the winter, past the springtime, | |
| Into summer far and late; | |
| For the joy of Vino Santo | |
| They who long must long and wait; | 25 |
| Only glowing heat can ripen— | |
| Glowing heat and cross’s sign, | |
| Vino Santo, Holy Wine! | |
| |
| Dear, to-day, the strange, sweet story, | |
| Sudden seemeth thine and mine; | 30 |
| Thine and mine and all true lovers, | |
| Sealed by seal and signed by sign; | |
| Silence, patience, from Love’s Vintage | |
| Drink at last, in joy divine, | |
| Vino Santo, Holy Wine! | 35 | | | |
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