 | Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy |  |
81
MY FRIEND AND I
THE SPLÜGEN PASS
There in the barren pass I saw him stand,
His yellow hair, his eyes that seemed to shine
Like those forget-me-nots of blue divine
That gem the mountain slopes. ‘My Fatherland!’
He cried, ‘with breath of Home my brows are fanned!’
And down, through cowbell chimes and odorous pine,
Toward the cradle of the nursling Rhine
We went with hearts together, hand in hand.
His yellow hair, his eyes that seemed to shine
Like those forget-me-nots of blue divine
That gem the mountain slopes. ‘My Fatherland!’
He cried, ‘with breath of Home my brows are fanned!’
And down, through cowbell chimes and odorous pine,
Toward the cradle of the nursling Rhine
We went with hearts together, hand in hand.
There leapt the rushing torrent blanched by snow,
That keeps a nation strong and sings it free;
And as I gazed, the gates of Time flung wide,
The self-same river with primæval tide
Made mine own England out of darkness grow,
And swept a path for the encircling sea.
That keeps a nation strong and sings it free;
And as I gazed, the gates of Time flung wide,
The self-same river with primæval tide
Made mine own England out of darkness grow,
And swept a path for the encircling sea.
| Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy | |