Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.

Richmond, Surry

Remembrance of Collins

By William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

GLIDE gently, thus forever glide,

O Thames! that other bards may see

As lovely visions by thy side

As now, fair river! come to me.

O, glide, fair stream! forever so

Thy quiet soul on all bestowing,

Till all our minds forever flow

As thy deep waters now are flowing.

Vain thought!—Yet be as now thou art,

That in thy waters may be seen

The image of a poet’s heart,

How bright, how solemn, how serene!

Such as did once the poet bless,

Who, murmuring here a later ditty,

Could find no refuge from distress

But in the milder grief of pity.

Now let us, as we float along,

For him suspend the dashing oar;

And pray that never child of song

May know that poet’s sorrows more.

How calm! how still! the only sound,

The dripping of the oar suspended!

The evening darkness gathers round,

By virtue’s holiest powers attended.