dots-menu
×

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
America: Vols. XXV–XXIX. 1876–79.

New England: Boston, Mass.

The Harbor

By Robert Southey (1774–1843)

(From A New England Tale)

SCATTERED within the peaceful bay

Many a fair isle and islet lay,

And rocks and banks which threatened there

No peril to the mariner.

The shores which bent around were gay

With maizals, and with pastures green,

And rails and hedge-row trees between,

And fields for harvest white,

And dwellings sprinkled up and down;

And round about the clustered town,

Which rose in sunshine bright,

Was many a sheltered garden spot,

And many a sunny orchard plot,

And bowers which might invite

The studious man to take his seat

Within their quiet, cool retreat,

When noon was at its height.

No heart that was at ease, I ween,

Could gaze on that surrounding scene

Without a calm delight.