C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.

The Castle by the Sea

Translation of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“HAST thou seen that lordly castle,

That castle by the sea?

Golden and red above it

The clouds float gorgeously.

“And fain it would stoop downward

To the mirrored wave below;

And fain it would soar upward

In the evening’s crimson glow.”—

“Well have I seen that castle,

That castle by the sea,

And the moon above it standing,

And the mist rise solemnly.”—

“The winds and the waves of ocean,

Had they a merry chime?

Didst thou hear, from those lofty chambers,

The harp and the minstrel’s rhyme?”—

“The winds and the waves of ocean,

They rested quietly;

But I heard on the gale a sound of wail,

And tears came to mine eye.”—

“And sawest thou on the turrets

The king and his royal bride,

And the wave of their crimson mantles,

And the golden crown of pride?

“Led they not forth, in rapture,

A beauteous maiden there,

Resplendent as the morning sun,

Beaming with golden hair?”—

“Well saw I the ancient parents,

Without the crown of pride:

They were moving slow, in weeds of woe;

No maiden was by their side!”