Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Oceanica: Vol. XXXI. 1876–79.

Various Islands: Canary Islands

Teneriffe

By Thomas Warton (1728–1790)

(From The Pleasures of Melancholy)

MOTHER of musings, Contemplation sage,

Whose grotto stands upon the topmost rock

Of Teneriffe: mid the tempestuous night,

On which, in calmest meditation held,

Thou hear’st with howling winds the beating rain

And drifting hail descend; or if the skies

Unclouded shine, and through the blue serene

Pale Cynthia rolls her silver-axled car,

Whence gazing steadfast on the spangled vault

Raptured thou sitt’st, while murmurs indistinct

Of distant billows soothe thy pensive ear

With hoarse and hollow sounds; secure, self-blest,

There oft thou listen’st to the wild uproar

Of fleets encountering, that in whispers low

Ascends the rocky summit, where thou dwell’st

Remote from man, conversing with the spheres!

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