Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland: Vols. XIV–XV. 1876–79. | | | | Holland: Rotterdam | | To —— | | Thomas Hood (1799–1845) |
| | Composed at Rotterdam
I GAZE upon a city,— | |
| A city new and strange, | |
| Down many a watery vista | |
| My fancy takes a range; | |
| From side to side I saunter, | 5 |
| And wonder where I am; | |
| And can you be in England, | |
| And I at Rotterdam? | |
| |
| Before me lie dark waters | |
| In broad canals and deep, | 10 |
| Whereon the silver moonbeams | |
| Sleep, restless in their sleep; | |
| A sort of vulgar Venice | |
| Reminds me where I am; | |
| Yes, yes, you are in England, | 15 |
| And I ’m at Rotterdam. | |
| |
| Tall houses with quaint gables, | |
| Where frequent windows shine, | |
| And quays that lead to bridges | |
| And trees in formal line, | 20 |
| And masts of spicy vessels | |
| From western Surinam, | |
| All tell me you ’re in England, | |
| But I ’m in Rotterdam. | |
| |
| Those sailors, how outlandish | 25 |
| The face and form of each! | |
| They deal in foreign gestures, | |
| And use a foreign speech; | |
| A tongue not learned near Isis, | |
| Or studied by the Cam, | 30 |
| Declares that you ’re in England, | |
| And I ’m at Rotterdam. | |
| |
| And now across a market | |
| My doubtful way I trace, | |
| Where stands a solemn statue, | 35 |
| The Genius of the place; | |
| And to the great Erasmus | |
| I offer my salaam; | |
| Who tells me you ’re in England, | |
| But I ’m at Rotterdam. | 40 |
| |
| The coffee-room is open,— | |
| I mingle in its crowd,— | |
| The dominos are noisy,— | |
| The hookahs raise a cloud; | |
| The flavor now of Fearon’s, | 45 |
| That mingles with my dram, | |
| Reminds me you ’re in England, | |
| And I ’m at Rotterdam. | |
| |
| Then here it goes, a bumper,— | |
| The toast it shall be mine. | 50 |
| In schiedam, or in sherry, | |
| Tokay, or hock of Rhine; | |
| It well deserves the brightest, | |
| Where sunbeam ever swam,— | |
| “The Girl I love in England” | 55 |
| I drink at Rotterdam! | | | | |
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