English Poetry III: From Tennyson to Whitman.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
787. The Fiftieth Birthday of Agassiz
May 28, 1857I
In the pleasant month of May,
In the beautiful Pays de Vaud,
A child in its cradle lay.
The child upon her knee,
Saying: ‘Here is a story-book
Thy Father has written for thee.’
‘Into regions yet untrod;
And read what is still unread
In the manuscripts of God.’
With Nature, the dear old nurse,
Who sang to him night and day
The rhymes of the universe.
Or his heart began to fail,
She would sing a more wonderful song,
Or tell a more marvellous tale.
And will not let him go,
Though at times his heart beats wild
For the beautiful Pays de Vaud;
The Ranz des Vaches of old,
And the rush of mountain streams
From glaciers clear and cold;
For his voice I listen and yearn;
It is growing late and dark,
And my boy does not return!’