Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79.
On the Rhine
By William Lisle Bowles (17621850)’T
(Hung with the blushes of the bending vine)
Streamed the blue light, when on the sparkling Rhine
We bounded, and the white waves round the prow
In murmurs parted; varying as we go,
Lo! the woods open and the rocks retire;
Some convent’s ancient walls, or glistening spire
Mid the bright landscape’s tract unfolding slow.
Here dark with furrowed aspect, like despair,
Hangs the bleak cliff, there on the woodland’s side
The shadowy sunshine pours its streaming tide;
Whilst Hope, enchanted with a scene so fair,
Would wish to linger many a summer’s day,
Nor heeds how fast the prospect winds away.