Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Scotland: Vols. VI–VIII. 1876–79. | | | | Staffa, the Island | | Flowers on the Top of the Pillars at the Entrance of the Cave | | William Wordsworth (1770–1850) |
| | | HOPE smiled when your nativity was cast, | |
| Children of summer! Ye fresh flowers that brave | |
| What summer here escapes not, the fierce wave, | |
| And whole artillery of the western blast, | |
| Battering the temple’s front, its long-drawn nave | 5 |
| Smiting, as if each moment were their last. | |
| But ye, bright flowers, on frieze and architrave | |
| Survive, and once again the pile stands fast: | |
| Calm as the universe, from specular towers | |
| Of heaven contemplated by spirits pure | 10 |
| With mute astonishment, it stands sustained | |
| Through every part in symmetry, to endure, | |
| Unhurt, the assault of Time with all his hours, | |
| As the Supreme Artificer ordained. | | | | |
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