Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland: Vols. XIV–XV. 1876–79. | | | | Portugal: Mondego, the River | | Mondego | | Francisco Rodriguez Lobo (1580–1622) |
| | Translated by John Adamson
WATERS! which pendent from your airy height, | |
| Dash on the heedless rocks and stones below, | |
| Whilst in your white uplifted foam ye show, | |
| Though vexed yourselves, your beauties much more bright. | |
| Why, as ye know that changeless is their doom, | 5 |
| Do ye, if weary, strive against them still? | |
| Year after year, as ye your course fulfil, | |
| Ye find them rugged nor less hard become. | |
| Return ye back unto the leafy grove, | |
| Through which your way ye may at pleasure roam, | 10 |
| Until ye reach at last your longed-for home. | |
| How hid in mystery are the ways of love! | |
| Ye, if ye wished, yet could not wander free,— | |
| Freedom in my lorn state is valueless to me. | | | | |
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