Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
America: Vols. XXV–XXIX. 1876–79.

Western States: St. Louis, Mo.

Up the River-side

By Frank Foy

A SABBATH hush pervades the summer day,

As seated here beside the shining sands,

I gaze on once again the arid lands,

That weed-besprinkled westward stretch away;

The waves that wash the beach about me lay

Smooth mirrors in their track, and vast expands

The stream’s majestic breast, to where up-stands

Fair Venice in her groves beside her bay.

And so serenely on the sands of gold

I lie and listen to the beat of wave

And boom of wind, and watch the river-gleams;

Then seas of slumber are about me rolled,

And as within their waters deep I lave,

The scene before me fades and floats away in dreams.