 | The poetical works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |  |
[III.
I enter, and I see thee in the gloom]
I enter, and I see thee in the gloomOf the long aisles, O poet saturnine!
And strive to make my steps keep pace with thine.
The air is filled with some unknown perfume;
The congregation of the dead make room
For thee to pass; the votive tapers shine;
Like rooks that haunt Ravenna's groves of pine
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From the confessionals I hear arise
Rehearsals of forgotten tragedies,
And lamentations from the crypts below;
And then a voice celestial that begins
With the pathetic words, “Although your sins
As scarlet be,” and ends with “as the snow.”
| The poetical works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow | |