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

Rhine, the River

On the Rhine

By William Lisle Bowles (1762–1850)

’T WAS morn, and beauteous on the mountain’s brow

(Hung with the blushes of the bending vine)

Streamed the blue light, when on the sparkling Rhine

We bounded, and the white waves round the prow

In murmurs parted; varying as we go,

Lo! the woods open and the rocks retire;

Some convent’s ancient walls, or glistening spire

Mid the bright landscape’s tract unfolding slow.

Here dark with furrowed aspect, like despair,

Hangs the bleak cliff, there on the woodland’s side

The shadowy sunshine pours its streaming tide;

Whilst Hope, enchanted with a scene so fair,

Would wish to linger many a summer’s day,

Nor heeds how fast the prospect winds away.