The Four Princesses At Wilna - A Photograph

Sweet faces, that from pictured casements lean
    As from a castle window, looking down
    On some gay pageant passing through a town,
    Yourselves the fairest figures in the scene;
With what a gentle grace, with what serene
    Unconsciousness ye wear the triple crown
    Of youth and beauty and the fair renown
    Of a great name, that ne'er hath tarnished been!
From your soft eyes, so innocent and sweet,
    Four spirits, sweet and innocent as they,
    Gaze on the world below, the sky above;
Hark! there is some one singing in the street;
    "Faith, Hope, and Love! these three," he seems to say;
    "These three; and greatest of the three is Love."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator. He wrote many lyric poems known for their musicality and often presenting stories of mythology and legend. Some of his famous works include "Paul Revere's Ride" and "The Song of Hiawatha." Longfellow was one of the most popular American poets of his time and remains a significant figure in the canon of American literature.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Emperor's Glove

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Simple Poetry

The Revenge Of Rain-In-The-Face

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Simple Poetry

The Song Of Hiawatha - XXII - Hiawatha's Departure

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Simple Poetry

Daylight And Moonlight

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

The Four Princesses.

Four Princesses lived in a Green Tower
A Bright Green Tower in the middle of the sea;
And no one could think oh, no one could think
Who the Four Princesses could be.

One looked to the North, and one to the South,
And one to the East, and one to the West;
They were all so pretty, so very pretty,
You could not tell which was the prettiest.

Their curls were golden their eyes were blue,
And their voices were sweet as a silvery bell;
And four white birds around them flew,
But where they came from who could tell?

Oh, who could tell? for no one knew,
And not a word could you hear them say.
But the sound of their singing, like church bells ringing,
Would sweetly float as they passed away.

For under the sun, and under the stars,
They...

Kate Greenaway

Maidenhood

Maiden! with the meek, brown eyes,
In whose orbs a shadow lies
Like the dusk in evening skies!

Thou whose locks outshine the sun,
Golden tresses, wreathed in one,
As the braided streamlets run!

Standing, with reluctant feet,
Where the brook and river meet,
Womanhood and childhood fleet!

Gazing, with a timid glance,
On the brooklet's swift advance,
On the river's broad expanse!

Deep and still, that gliding stream
Beautiful to thee must seem,
As the river of a dream.

Then why pause with indecision,
When bright angels in thy vision
Beckon thee to fields Elysian?

Seest thou shadows sailing by,
As the dove, with startled eye,
Sees the falcon's shadow fly?

Hearest thou voices on the shore,
That ...

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Four Lakes Of Madison

Four limpid lakes,--four Naiades
Or sylvan deities are these,
    In flowing robes of azure dressed;
Four lovely handmaids, that uphold
Their shining mirrors, rimmed with gold,
    To the fair city in the West.

By day the coursers of the sun
Drink of these waters as they run
    Their swift diurnal round on high;
By night the constellations glow
Far down the hollow deeps below,
    And glimmer in another sky.

Fair lakes, serene and full of light,
Fair town, arrayed in robes of white,
    How visionary ye appear!
All like a floating landscape seems
In cloud-land or the land of dreams,
    Bathed in a golden atmosphere!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Old English Garden - A Floral Phantasy

In an old world garden dreaming,
Where the flowers had human names,
Methought, in fantastic seeming,
They disported as squires and dames.

Of old in Rosamond's Bower,
With it's peacock hedges of yew,
One could never find the flower
Unless one was given the clue;
So take the key of the wicket,
Who would follow my fancy free,
By formal knot and clipt thicket,
And smooth greensward so fair to see

And while Time his scythe is whetting,
Ere the dew from the grass has gone,

The Four Seasons' flight forgetting,
As they dance round the dial stone;

With a leaf from an old English book,
A Jonquil will serve for a pen.

Let us note from the green arbour's nook,
Flowers masking like women and men.


FIRST in VENUS'...

Walter Crane

The Destined Maid: A Prayer

(Chant Royal)

O MIGHTY Queen, our Lady of the fire,
The light, the music, and the honey, all
Blent in one Power, one passionate Desire
Man calleth Love - 'Sweet love,' the blessed call - :
I come a sad-eyed suppliant to thy knee,
If thou hast pity, pity grant to me;
If thou hast bounty, here a heart I bring
For all that bounty 'thirst and hungering.
O Lady, save thy grace, there is no way
For me, I know, but lonely sorrowing -
Send me a maiden meet for love, I pray!

I lay in darkness, face down in the mire,
And prayed that darkness might become my pall;
The rabble rout roared round me like some quire
Of filthy animals primordial;
My heart seemed like a toad eternally
Prisoned in stone, ugly and sad as he;
Sweet sunlight seemed a dr...

Richard Le Gallienne

A May-Day Madrigal

The sun shines fair on Tweedside, the river flowing bright,
Your heart is full of pleasure, your eyes are full of light,
Your cheeks are like the morning, your pearls are like the dew,
Or morning and her dew-drops are like your pearls and you.

Because you are a princess, a princess of the land,
You will not turn your lightsome eyes a moment where I stand,
A poor unnoticed poet, a-making of his rhymes;
But I have found a mistress, more fair a thousand times.

'Tis May, the elfish maiden, the daughter of the Spring,
Upon whose birthday morning the birds delight to sing.
They would not sing one note for you, if you should so command,
Although you are a princess, a princess of the land.

Robert Fuller Murray