Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland: Vols. XIV–XV. 1876–79.

Introductory to Holland

Holland

By James Thomson (1834–1882)

(From Liberty)

AS when, impetuous from the snow-heaped Alps,

To venial suns relenting pours the Rhine;

While, undivided, oft, with wasteful sweep,

He foams along; but through Batavian meads,

Branched into fair canals, indulgent flows;

Waters a thousand fields; and culture, trade,

Towns, meadows, gliding ships, and villas mixed,

A rich, a wondrous landscape rises round.