Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79.

Po (Eridanus), the River

The Swans of Eridan

By Giles Fletcher (1586?–1623)

(From Christ’s Triumph over Death)

SO down the silver streams of Eridan,

On either side banked with a lily wall,

Whiter than both rides the triumphant swan,

And sings his dirge, and prophecies his fall,

Diving into his watery funeral!

But Eridan to Cedron must submit

His flowery shore; nor can he envy it

If, when Apollo sings, his swans do silent sit.