Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
America: Vols. XXV–XXIX. 1876–79.
Hawthorne’s Grave
By Frank Dexter MasonT
Keep watch and ward above his place of rest,
And when the sun has vanished down the west,
And night and darkness hold their mystic sway;
When the pale moon looks down through clouds of gray
On the white city where to sleep addressed
Naught can disturb the dwellers, naught molest;
When all is still, so still that one may pray,—
Then, then those forest veterans, those old trees
Standing on guard for many a long, long year,
Clasp hands, and, pointing where the genius lies
And has so long lain undisturbed at ease,
They say, “Does not the time at length draw near?
Long have we watched; when will the sleeper rise?”