Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79.
The Juvenis Adorans
By Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham (17931870)
T
Darkest tales can tell,
Where the mightiest stood,
How the haughtiest fell.
Rustle with the past.
Ah, that Rome’s bright ranks
Should fade to this at last!
Beneath thy burial lid—
If true what men have said—
Treasures of spoil lie hid.
From those foul deeps they raise
A form of vigorous mould;
And behold! he prays.
Not kneeling as in dread,
Not clasped his eager hands,
Not bowed his noble head.
As if his trust were there;
His arms stretched wide and high,
As if his thanks were prayer.
And life’s full, generous fires,
As towards that heavenly cope
He worships and aspires.
The churches rose and stood;
Throwing all stoop aside,
And every mournful mood.
Hail from thine ancient tomb;
Now let thy spirit’s blaze
Chase the old world of gloom.
On man so prone and sad;
And teach him how to adore,
And to be free and glad.