Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Po (Eridanus), the River | | The River Po | | Lucan (39–65 A.D.) |
| | Translated by Joseph Addison
THE PO, that, rushing with uncommon force, | |
| O’ersets whole woods in its tumultuous course, | |
| And, rising from Hesperia’s watery veins, | |
| The exhausted land of all its moisture drains. | |
| The Po, as sings the fable, first conveyed | 5 |
| Its wondering current through a poplar shade: | |
| For when young Phaëton mistook his way, | |
| Lost and confounded in the blaze of day, | |
| This river, with surviving streams supplied, | |
| When all the rest of the whole earth were dried, | 10 |
| And nature’s self lay ready to expire, | |
| Quenched the dire flame that set the world on fire. | | | | |
|
|
