Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79.
Naples, 1866
By John Bruce Norton (1815–1883)“E quindi uscimmi rivedere le stelle.”—Dante.
I
That clasps, as with a lover’s arms, the sea
Tripping to kiss the curved shore smilingly,
O! Naples, of thy charms, though poets say,
“See Naples, and in death then pass away.”
I have no eye nor ear but for the glee,
The tide, the bustle, the activity,
Thronging thy streets, as ’t were a festive day.
To me, an exile, for how many a year,
In death-like India, thou art as the gate
Of life, or morning’s advent after night;
As welcome as to Dante was the light,
When issuing from the realms of woeful fate,
He saw the blessed stars once more appear.