Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79.
On a Pair of Antlers
By James Thomas Fields (18171881)G
Can I forget the enchanted day,
When first along the glorious Rhine
I heard the huntsman’s bugle play,
And marked the early star that dwells
Among the cliffs of Drachenfels!
Again the crumbling tower appears,
That stands, defying stormy skies,
With memories of a thousand years,
And dark old forests wave again,
And shadows crowd the dusky plain.
The music of the roaring pine,—
To fill again my charméd ear
With echoes of the Rodenstein,—
With echoes of the silver horn,—
Across the wailing waters borne.
Is in this quiet home of mine;—
Farewell the busy, bloody chase,
Mute emblems now of “auld lang syne,”
When Youth and Hope went hand in hand
To roam the dear old German land.