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Home  »  Poems of Places An Anthology in 31 Volumes  »  On Entering Frankfort after a Long Tour through Switzerland

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79.

Frankfort

On Entering Frankfort after a Long Tour through Switzerland

By James Cochrane

WHAT sense of loneliness comes o’er the soul,

What sinking of the spirits, when one leaves

The kindly-courteous country, and perceives

The first sure indications of his goal,

The densely peopled city; when the roll

Of drums is heard in dry and dusty streets,

What time the huge cathedral bell repeats

The evening hour, with solemn-sounding toll!

Where ’mong the crowds that pour in at the gate,

There ’s none we care for, none for us who care!

How different from the scenes we left of late,

Where every peasant had a friendly air,

And where the trees, to touch us, wont to extend

Their branches out, like some familiar friend!