Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
America: Vols. XXV–XXIX. 1876–79.
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By Philip Freneau (1752–1832)T
To mighty distance seen,
With aspect bold and rugged brow,
That shade the neighboring main;
These heights, for solitude designed,
This rude, resounding shore,
These vales impervious to the wind,
Tall oaks, that to the tempest bend,
Half Druid, I adore.
Your hazy summits greet,—
You saw the angry Briton come,
You saw him, last, retreat!
With towering crest, you first appear
The news of land to tell;
To him that comes, fresh joys impart,
To him that goes, a heavy heart,
The lover’s long farewell.
Of persevering mind,
To see him rove in search of care,
And leave true bliss behind;
To see him spread his flowing sails
To trace a tiresome road,
By wintry seas and tempests chased,
To see him o’er the ocean haste,
A comfortless abode!
What luxury to sip,
As from the mountain’s breast they flow
To moisten Flora’s lip!
In vast retirements herd the deer,
Where forests round them rise,
Dark groves, their tops in ether lost,
That, haunted still by Huddy’s ghost,
The trembling rustic flies.
(With joy beheld once more),
On your firm base I take my stand,
Tenacious of the shore:
Let those who pant for wealth or fame
Pursue the watery road;
Soft sleep and ease, blest days and nights,
And health, attend these favorite heights,
Retirement’s blest abode!