Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.
Stratford-upon-Avon, January, 1837
By Henry Alford (18101871)W
Time, nor oblivious thrift, nor envy chill,
Nor war, nor ocean with her severing space,
Shall hinder from the peopled world to fill;
And thus, in fulness of our heart, we cried:
God’s works are wonderful,—the circling sky,
The rivers that with noiseless footing glide,
Man’s firm-built strength, and woman’s liquid eye;
But the high spirit that sleepeth here below,
More than all beautiful and stately things,
Glory to God the mighty Maker brings;
To whom alone ’t was given the bounds to know
Of human action, and the secret springs
Whence the deep streams of joy and sorrow flow.