Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
France: Vols. IX–X. 1876–79.
On Returning from Baréges
By Jean-Jacques Lefranc de Pompignan (17091784)I
Dwelling of warriors stark and frore!
You may these eyes behold no more,
Save on the horizon of our plains.
Ye rocks that mount up to the clouds!
Of skies, enwrapped in misty shrouds,
Impracticable avenues!
Break pathways through the rocky walls,
With your terrific waterfalls
Fatigue no more my weary brain!
Arise, ye pictures of delight!
Ye brooks, that water in your flight
The flowers and harvests of our farms!
Where the Garonne the lowland fills,
Not far from that long chain of hills,
With intermingled vales between.
Methinks from my own hearth must come;
With speed, to that beloved home
Fly, ye too lazy coursers, fly!
In quiet may itself possess,
Where all things soothe the mind’s distress,
Where all things teach me and console.