Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893.
Birds of PassageFlight the Fourth. Cadenabbia
N
The silence of the summer day,
As by the loveliest of all lakes
I while the idle hours away.
Where level branches of the plane
Above me weave a roof of shade
Impervious to the sun and rain.
Flutters the lazy leaves o’erhead,
And gleams of sunshine toss and flare
Like torches down the path I tread.
I make the marble stairs my seat,
And hear the water, as I wait,
Lapping the steps beneath my feet.
Along the stony parapets,
And far away the floating bells
Tinkle upon the fisher’s nets.
The freighted barges come and go,
Their pendent shadows gliding down
By town and tower submerged below.
With villas scattered one by one
Upon their wooded spurs, and lower
Bellaggio blazing in the sun.
Of walls and woods, of light and shade,
Stands, beckoning up the Stelvio Pass,
Varenna with its white cascade.
Will it all vanish into air?
Is there a land of such supreme
And perfect beauty anywhere?
Linger, until my heart shall take
Into itself the summer day,
And all the beauty of the lake;
Is stamped an image of the scene;
Then fade into the air again,
And be as if thou hadst not been.