Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Africa: Vol. XXIV. 1876–79.

Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia: Nile, the River

A Sunset on the Nile

By Thomas Gold Appleton (1812–1884)

PAST emerald plains and furrowed mountains old,

Whose violet gorges snare the wandering eye,

The pillared palms day’s dying embers hold,

Like shafts of bronze against the crimson sky,

And every cloud mirrors its rosy fold

In tremulous waves which blush and wander by—

We float, and feel the magic penetrate,

Till all our soul is colored by the hues,

Making a heaven of earth, and, satiate

With splendor, we forego the use

Of speech, and reverently wait

While fades the glory with the falling dews,

And darkness seals for memory each gleam,

Happy to know it was not all a dream.