Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893.
Ultima ThuleLEnvoi. The Poet and his Songs
A
We know not from where;
As the stars come at evening
From depths of the air;
And the brook from the ground;
As suddenly, low or loud,
Out of silence a sound;
The fruit to the tree;
As the wind comes to the pine,
And the tide to the sea;
O’er the ocean’s verge;
As comes the smile to the lips,
The foam to the surge;
All hitherward blown
From the misty realm, that belongs
To the vast Unknown.
He sings; and their fame
Is his, and not his; and the praise
And the pride of a name.
And haunt him by night,
And he listens, and needs must obey,
When the Angel says, “Write!”