Poems by William Cullen Bryant


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Page 71

They change--but thou, Lisena,
Art cold while I complain:
Why to thy lover only
Should spring return in vain?




A NORTHERN LEGEND.

FROM THE GERMAN OF UHLAND.


There sits a lovely maiden,
The ocean murmuring nigh;
She throws the hook, and watches;
The fishes pass it by.

A ring, with a red jewel,
Is sparkling on her hand;
Upon the hook she binds it,
And flings it from the land.

Uprises from the water
A hand like ivory fair.
What gleams upon its finger?
The golden ring is there.

Uprises from the bottom
A young and handsome knight;
In golden scales he rises,
That glitter in the light.

The maid is pale with terror--
"Nay, Knight of Ocean, nay,
It was not thee I wanted;
Let go the ring, I pray."

"Ah, maiden, not to fishes
The bait of gold is thrown;
The ring shall never leave me,
And thou must be my own."




* * * * *



LATER POEMS.



* * * * *




LATER POEMS




TO THE APENNINES.


Your peaks are beautiful, ye Apennines!
In the soft light of these serenest skies;
From the broad highland region, black with pines,
Fair as the hills of Paradise they rise,
Bathed in the tint Peruvian slaves behold
In rosy flushes on the virgin gold.

There, rooted to the a�rial shelves that wear
The glory of a brighter world, might spring
Sweet flowers of heaven to scent the unbreathed air,
And heaven's fleet messengers might rest the wing,
To view the fair earth in its summer sleep,
Silent, and cradled by the glimmering deep.

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Books | Photos | Paul Mutton | Sun 18th Jan 2026, 20:17