Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79. | | | | London | | Kensington Gardens | | Thomas Tickell (1685–1740) |
| | | WHERE Kensington high o’er the neighboring lands | |
| Midst greens and sweets a regal fabric stands, | |
| And sees each spring, luxuriant in her bowers, | |
| A snow of blossoms and a wild of flowers, | |
| The dames of Britain oft in crowds repair | 5 |
| To groves and lawns and unpolluted air. | |
| Here, while the town in damps and darkness lies, | |
| They breathe in sunshine, and see azure skies; | |
| Each walk, with robes of various dyes bespread, | |
| Seems from afar a moving tulip-bed, | 10 |
| Where rich brocades and glossy damasks glow, | |
| And chintz, the rival of the showery bow. | |
| Here England’s daughter, darling of the land, | |
| Sometimes, surrounded with her virgin band, | |
| Gleams through the shades. She, towering o’er the rest, | 15 |
| Stands fairest of the fairer kind confessed, | |
| Formed to gain hearts, that Brunswick’s cause denied, | |
| And charm a people to her father’s side. | |
| Long have these groves to royal guests been known, | |
| Nor Nassau first preferred them to a throne. | 20 |
| Ere Norman banners waved in British air, | |
| Ere lordly Hubba with the golden hair | |
| Poured in his Danes, ere elder Julius came, | |
| Or Dardan Brutus gave our isle a name, | |
| A prince of Albion’s lineage graced the wood, | 25 |
| The scene of wars, and stained with lovers’ blood. * * * * * | | | | |
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