Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume V. Nature. 1904. | | | | IV. Inland Waters: Highlands | | On the Rhine | | William Lisle Bowles (1762–1850) |
| | | ’T WAS morn, and beautiful the mountain’s brow— | |
| Hung with the clusters of the bending vine— | |
| Shone in the early light, when on the Rhine | |
| We sailed and heard the waters round the prow | |
| In murmurs parting; varying as we go, | 5 |
| Rocks after rocks come forward and retire, | |
| As some gray convent wall or sunlit spire | |
| Starts up along the banks, unfolding slow. | |
| Here castles, like the prisons of despair, | |
| Frown as we pass;—there, on the vineyard’s side, | 10 |
| The bursting sunshine pours its streaming tide; | |
| While Grief, forgetful amid scenes so fair, | |
| Counts not the hours of a long summer’s day, | |
| Nor heeds how fast the prospect winds away. | | | | |
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