Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Piedmont | | The Vaudois | | William Wordsworth (1770–1850) |
| | | BUT whence came they who for the Saviour Lord | |
| Have long borne witness as the Scriptures teach? | |
| Ages ere Valdo raised his voice to preach | |
| In Gallic ears the unadulterate Word, | |
| Their fugitive progenitors explored | 5 |
| Subalpine vales, in quest of safe retreats, | |
| Where that pure Church survives, though summer heats | |
| Open a passage to the Romish sword | |
| Far as it dares to follow. Herbs self-sown, | |
| And fruitage gathered from the chestnut wood, | 10 |
| Nourish the sufferers then; and mists, that brood | |
| O’er chasms with new-fallen obstacles bestrewn, | |
| Protect them; and the eternal snow that daunts | |
| Aliens is God’s good winter for their haunts. | | | | |
|
|
