Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.
Rivers of England
By Michael Drayton (1563–1631)To the River Anker
O
And stately Severn for her shore is praised;
The crystal Trent for fords and fish renowned,
And Avon’s fame to Albion’s cliffs is raised.
Carlegion-Chester vaunts her holy Dee;
York many wonders of her Ouse can tell;
The Peak her Dove, whose banks so fertile be,
And Kent will say her Medway doth excel.
Cotswold commends her Isis to the Thame;
Our northern borders boast of Tweed’s fair flood;
Our western parts extol their Welly’s fame,
And the old Lea brags of the Danish blood.
Arden’s sweet Anker, let thy glory be,
That fair Idea only lives by thee.