Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893.
AppendixI. Juvenile Poems. The Venetian Gondolier
H
Breathe out in the o’erarching sky;
And Night-sweet Night—serenely wears
A smile of peace: her noon is nigh.
And waves, embracing the chaste shores,
Move over sea-shells and bright sands,
Is heard the sound of dipping oars.
Love’s midnight hour draws lingering near;
And list!—his tuneful viol strings
The young Venetian Gondolier.
On earth, and her embosomed lakes,
And where the silent rivers sweep,
From the thin cloud fair moonlight breaks
On the calm bosom of the sea;
Whilst in her cell the novice sighs
Her vespers to her rosary.
In tender charity for those,
That, helpless left to life’s rude storms,
Have never found this calm repose.
Relieved against the deep blue sky.
Haste!—dip the oar again—’t is time
To seek Genevra’s balcony.