Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79.
The Rhine
By Magnus SabistonT
The mirror-stream of chivalry!
What legends hang about its course,
From Mount St. Gothard to the sea!
Its banks have long been classic ground;
From the dim ages of the past,
In story and in song renowned.
What tales so wondrous e’er were told
As those of its fiend-haunted wilds,
Its lovely nymphs, and knights of old!
Chivalric Rhine! to it belong
The records of the historic page,
The legend, and the poet’s song.
’Neath azure skies and Alpine snows;
A brook, a torrent, and a lake,
It rushes on, and greater grows.
And many a dark and dreadful steep,
Where grim old ruins o’er its flood
Their watch like jealous guardians keep.
The wondrous, spectre-haunted stream!
Its sight brings back the distant past:
I gaze upon it, and I dream.
Many a hundred years ago:
I hear the challenge and reply,
As mail-clad horsemen come and go.
Where trees no longer have a place;
I listen to the hunting-horn
Of stout old Rhinegraves in the chase.
Of many a joyous party bent
On the high sport of falconry,
Or bound to some great tournament.
On pillioned palfreys gayly ride!
How brave and courteous are the knights
Who canter proudly by their side!
Alone gained grace in beauty’s eyes,—
When men held honor more than life,
And fame, not wealth, the sought-for prize!
Of tournament and glittering throng,
And masque and pageantry and feast,
And lady-love and minstrel song!
To gaze on yonder glorious stream,
And give my wandering fancy play
In many a visionary dream!