Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79. | | | | Brigham | | Nun’s Well, Brigham | | William Wordsworth (1770–1850) |
| | | THE CATTLE, crowding round this beverage clear | |
| To slake their thirst, with reckless hoofs have trod | |
| The encircling turf into a barren clod, | |
| Through which the waters creep, then disappear, | |
| Born to be lost in Derwent, flowing near; | 5 |
| Yet o’er the brink, and round the limestone cell | |
| Of the pure spring, (they call it the “Nun’s Well,” | |
| Name that first struck by chance my startled ear,) | |
| A tender spirit broods,—the pensive shade | |
| Of ritual honors to this fountain paid | 10 |
| By hooded votaresses with saintly cheer; | |
| Albeit oft the Virgin-Mother mild | |
| Looked down with pity upon eyes beguiled | |
| Into the shedding of “too soft a tear.” | | | | |
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