Bruges. William Wordsworth (1770-1850). Belgium: Bruges. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. 1876-79. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes. Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland: Vols. XIV-XV

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland: Vols. XIV–XV. 1876–79.

Belgium: Bruges

Bruges

William Wordsworth (1770–1850)


I. BRUGES I saw attired with golden light
(Streamed from the west) as with a robe of power:
The splendor fled; and now the sunless hour,
That, slowly making way for peaceful night,
Best suits with fallen grandeur, to my sight	5
Offers the beauty, the magnificence,
And sober graces, left her for defence
Against the injuries of time, the spite
Of fortune, and the desolating storms
Of future war. Advance not,—spare to hide,	10
O gentle power of darkness! these mild hues;
Obscure not yet these silent avenues
Of stateliest architecture, where the forms
Of nun-like females, with soft motion, glide!

II. THE SPIRIT of Antiquity—enshrined	15
In sumptuous buildings, vocal in sweet song,
In picture, speaking with heroic tongue,
And with devout solemnities entwined—
Mounts to the seat of grace within the mind:
Hence forms that glide with swan-like ease along;	20
Hence motions, even amid the vulgar throng,
To an harmonious decency confined:
As if the streets were consecrated ground,
The city one vast temple, dedicate
To mutual respect in thought and deed;	25
To leisure, to forbearances sedate;
To social cares from jarring passions freed;
A deeper peace than that in deserts found!