Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893.
Flower-de-LuceFlower-de-Luce
B
Or solitary mere,
Or where the sluggish meadow-brook delivers
Its waters to the weir!
Of spindle and of loom,
And the great wheel that toils amid the hurry
And rushing of the flume.
Thou dost not toil nor spin,
But makest glad and radiant with thy presence
The meadow and the lin.
And round thee throng and run
The rushes, the green yeomen of thy manor,
The outlaws of the sun.
And tilts against the field,
And down the listed sunbeam rides resplendent
With steel-blue mail and shield.
Who, armed with golden rod
And winged with the celestial azure, bearest
The message of some God.
Hauntest the sylvan streams,
Playing on pipes of reed the artless ditties
That come to us as dreams.
Linger to kiss thy feet!
O flower of song, bloom on, and make forever
The world more fair and sweet.