Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79. | | | | Undercliff, Isle of Wight | | St. Laurence | | Bessie Rayner Parkes (1829–1925) |
| | | ST. LAURENCE is a church beside the sea, | |
| Kissed by the southern wind perpetually. | |
| Those who may care to make and keep my grave, | |
| There, if they love me, they shall bury me. | |
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| It is the tiniest church in all the land, | 5 |
| By some old Catholic devoutly planned; | |
| Over its belfry and its little porch | |
| The ivy trickles down on either hand. | |
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| It is the season when green leaves turn sear,— | |
| To me the loveliest time in all the year; | 10 |
| And he who lingers by the churchyard-wall, | |
| He will not wonder why it seems so dear. | |
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| What is this place like on an autumn day?— | |
| One whom I love well, who is far away, | |
| A soul with which each tint would softly blend, | 15 |
| From flame-tipped russet to the tenderest gray. | |
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| If ever I from that belovéd heart, | |
| By evil fate—such is—were doomed to part, | |
| I should not struggle with this bitter world;— | |
| Take me, St. Laurence, hide me where thou art! | 20 | | | |
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