Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79. | | | | Rhine, the River | | The Steamer on the Rhine | | Henry Glassford Bell (1803–1874) |
| | A Sketch
SOME sat in silence with a vacant air; | |
| Some portly ladies slumbered here and there; | |
| Five gentlemen drank beer; and other two | |
| With greasy whiskers gobbled up a stew; | |
| One read the “Times”; and one was on the rack | 5 |
| Because his trunk was left at Andernack; | |
| The steward went about with cakes and ices, | |
| And German sausages in dumpy slices; | |
| Some pug-nosed dogs lay in some spinsters’ laps; | |
| Some soldiers strutted in some odd-shaped caps; | 10 |
| Promiscuous groups, stretched listless ’neath the awning, | |
| Were smoking, knitting, munching grapes, and yawning: | |
| The breathing landscape swept in glory by,— | |
| “When will they give us dinner?” was the cry; | |
| Green summer smiled upon the vine-clad hills,— | 15 |
| The tourists counted up their little bills; | |
| Old church, and older castle, lovely both,— | |
| “Thank Heaven! at last they lay the tablecloth!” | | | | |
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