Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79.

Heidelberg

Hymn for the Boatmen, as They Approach the Rapids under the Castle of Heidelberg

By William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

JESU! bless our slender boat,

By the current swept along!

Loud its threatenings,—let them not

Drown the music of a song

Breathed thy mercy to implore,

Where these troubled waters roar!

Saviour, for our warning, seen

Bleeding on that precious Rood!

If, while through the meadows green

Gently wound the peaceful flood,

We forgot thee, do not thou

Disregard thy suppliants now!

Hither, like yon ancient tower

Watching o’er the river’s bed,

Fling the shadow of thy power,

Else we sleep among the dead;

Thou who trod’st the billowy sea,

Shield us in our jeopardy!

Guide our bark among the waves;

Through the rocks our passage smooth,

Where the whirlpool frets and raves,

Let thy love its anger soothe:

All our hope is placed in thee;

Miserere Domine!