Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Val d’ Arno | | Val d’ Arno | | Samuel Rogers (1763–1855) |
| | (From Italy)
WELL pleased, could we pursue | |
| The Arno from his birthplace in the clouds, | |
| So near the yellow Tiber’s,—springing up | |
| From his four fountains on the Apennine, | |
| That mountain-ridge a sea-mark to the ships | 5 |
| Sailing on either sea. Downward he runs, | |
| Scattering fresh verdure through the desolate wild, | |
| Down by the City of Hermits, and the woods | |
| That only echo to the choral hymn; | |
| Then through these gardens to the Tuscan Sea, | 10 |
| Reflecting castles, convents, villages, | |
| And those great rivals in an elder day, | |
| Florence and Pisa,—who have given him fame, | |
| Fame everlasting, but who stained so oft | |
| His troubled waters. | 15 | | | |
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