Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland: Vols. XIV–XV. 1876–79. | | | | Belgium: Brussels | | Brussels | | Henry Alford (1810–1871) |
| | | THE PEACEFUL moon sheds downward from the sky | |
| Upon the sleeping city her soft light; | |
| Lines of storm-laden vapor heavily | |
| From the low north advance upon the night; | |
| The minster-towers are seen in vision bright | 5 |
| In front, distinct with fretted tracery; | |
| And long glades stretch beneath this giddy height, | |
| Dappled with shadows dark of tower and tree. | |
| Such wert thou, Brussels, when I gazed on thee: | |
| Thou, at whose name the circumstance of war | 10 |
| Rose to my youthful fancy; now no more | |
| A sound to move to tears; to memory | |
| Henceforth, as ever unto freedom, dear, | |
| In virtue of this night so soft and clear. | | | | |
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