Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79.
The Fig-Trees of Gherardesca
By Walter Savage Landor (17751864)Y
Beneath whose shade I often lay
To breathe awhile a cooler air,
And shield me from the dusts of day.
Led thither by my parting song;
Alas! the stranger found you not,
And curst the poet’s lying tongue.
Nor bough nor leaf could tell them where
To look for you, alive or dead;
Unheeded was my distant prayer.
Been mine) that time or storm alone
Your firm alliance would dissever,—
Hath mortal hand your strength o’erthrown?
The bleeding bark, some tender thought,
If not for me, at least for you,
On younger bosoms might have wrought.
From boys unseen through foliage fell
On lifted apron; now is mute
The girlish glee! Old friends, farewell!