Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.
Rosamond’s Song
By Joseph Addison (1672–1719)F
From stream to purling stream conveyed,
Through all the mazes of the grove,
Through all the mingling tracts I rove,
Turning,
Burning,
Changing,
Ranging,
Full of grief and full of love,
Impatient for my lord’s return,
I sigh, I pine, I rave, I mourn,
Was ever passion crossed like mine?
To rend my breast,
And break my rest,
A thousand thousand ills combine.
Absence wounds me,
Fear surrounds me,
Guilt confounds me,
Was ever passion crossed like mine?
The pleasures of this happy place!
In vain the spring my senses greets,
In all her colors, all her sweets;
To me the rose
No longer glows,
Every plant
Has lost his scent;
The vernal blooms of various hue,
The blossoms fresh with morning dew,
The breeze that sweeps these fragrant bowers,
Filled with the breath of opening flowers,
Purple scenes,
Winding greens,
Glooms inviting,
Birds delighting
(Nature’s softest, sweetest store),
Charm my tortured soul no more.
Ye powers, I rave, I faint, I die:
Why so slow! great Henry, why?
From death and alarms
Fly, fly to my arms,
Fly to my arms, my monarch, fly.