Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79.

Venice

When through the Piazzetta

By Thomas Moore (1779–1852)

WHEN through the Piazzetta

Night breathes her cool air,

Then, dearest Ninetta,

I ’ll come to thee there.

Beneath thy mask shrouded,

I ’ll know thee afar,

As Love knows, though clouded,

His own Evening Star.

In garb, then, resembling

Some gay gondolier,

I ’ll whisper thee, trembling,

“Our bark, love, is near:

Now, now, while there hover

Those clouds o’er the moon,

’T will waft thee safe over

Yon silent Lagoon.”