Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Asia: Vols. XXI–XXIII. 1876–79. | | | | Syria: Siloam, the Pool of | | The Pool of Siloam | | Nicholas Michell (1807–1880) |
| | (From Ruins of Many Lands)
WEND o’er the waste where now no floweret springs, | |
| But bloomed of yore the “Garden of the Kings”; | |
| Ye reach an opening pierced in Ophel’s side, | |
| While high beyond the huge mosque lifts its pride,— | |
| ’T is cool Siloam’s fount; when palms grew round, | 5 |
| Here Jewish minstrels woke their harps’ sweet sound, | |
| And Hebrew sages, on these rocks reclined, | |
| Taught listening crowds, and scattered pearls of mind, | |
| This rugged path the blessed Apostles trod, | |
| Beneath yon arch once stood their King, their God; | 10 |
| And here the wretch whose eyes were sealed in night, | |
| At Mercy’s word received the gift of sight. | |
| Now, on these steps worn smooth by countless feet, | |
| Young Arab maids at eve are wont to meet, | |
| Their fair heads bearing pitchers, and their hands | 15 |
| Wreathing the well’s dark sides with flowery bands. | |
| Thou blessed fount! whose crystal waters still | |
| Bubble unchanged beneath that holy hill,— | |
| Fire, war, and ruin, wasting on each side, | |
| Have left untouched thy pure and sparkling tide, | 20 |
| A living coolness in that cell below, | |
| Health in thy dew, and music in thy flow. | |
| Sure angels, while deserting Salem’s towers, | |
| And Zion’s Mount, and David’s perished bowers, | |
| Might hither come, and sorrowing vigil keep, | 25 |
| Glide through the shade, above those waters weep, | |
| And fold their wings, resolving ne’er to flee, | |
| The lingering guardians, hallowed fount! of thee. | | | | |
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