The Road to Appenzell. Henry Glassford Bell (1803-1874). Switzerland: Appenzell. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. 1876-79. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes. Switzerland and Austria: Vol. XVI

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Switzerland and Austria: Vol. XVI. 1876–79.

Switzerland: Appenzell

The Road to Appenzell

Henry Glassford Bell (1803–1874)


GREEN sunny road that skirts the foot
Of low hills, clad from top to toe
With vines, beneath whose ripening fruit
The yellow-coated pumpkins grow;

Road winding by the ruined tower,	5
Whose olden story none can tell,
Road fringed with many a mountain flower,
Road leading on to Appenzell!—

May thy soft shadows ne’er be less,
Thy brawling brooklet never dumb!	10
The hours were winged with happiness
Which saw me through thy valley come.

And by my side there tripped along
The fairest of the mountain maids,
Who sang unasked her mountain song,	15
And showed me all the rocks and glades.

I ne’er shall hear that song again,
I ne’er shall see that Switzer dell,
But in my heart will aye remain
The road that leads to Appenzell;	20

The sunny road that skirts the foot
Of low hills, clad from top to toe
With vines, beneath whose ripening fruit
The yellow-coated pumpkins grow!