THE GALLEY OF COUNT ARNALDOS
by: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(1807-1882)
- H! what
pleasant visions haunt me
- As I gaze upon the sea!
- All the old romantic legends,
- All my dreams, come back to me.
-
- Sails of silk and ropes of sandal,
- Such as gleam in ancient lore;
- And the singing of the sailors,
- And the answer from the shore!
-
- Most of all, the Spanish ballad
- Haunts me oft, and tarries long,
- Of the noble Count Arnaldos
- And the sailor's mystic song.
-
- Telling how the Count Arnaldos,
- With his hawk upon his hand,
- Saw a fair and stately galley,
- Steering onward to the land;--
-
- How he heard the ancient helmsman
- Chant a song so wild and clear,
- That the sailing sea-bird slowly
- Poised upon the mast to hear.
-
- Till his soul was full of longing,
- And he cried, with impulse strong,--
- 'Helmsman! for the love of heaven,
- Teach me, too, that wondrous song!'
-
- 'Wouldst thou,'--so the helmsman answered,--
- 'Learn the secret of the sea?
- Only those who brave its dangers
- Comprehend its mystery!'
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