Fata Morgana

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

O sweet illusions of song
     That tempt me everywhere,
In the lonely fields, and the throng
     Of the crowded thoroughfare!
I approach and ye vanish away,
     I grasp you, and ye are gone;
But ever by night and by day,
     The melody soundeth on.
As the weary traveller sees
     In desert or prairie vast,
Blue lakes, overhung with trees
     That a pleasant shadow cast;
Fair towns with turrets high,
     And shining roofs of gold,
That vanish as he draws nigh,
     Like mists together rolled --
So I wander and wander along,
     And forever before me gleams
The shining city of song,
     In the beautiful land of dreams.
But when I would enter the gate
     Of that golden atmosphere,
It is gone, and I wonder and wait
     For the vision to reappear.

Next 10 Poems

• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Flowers
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Footsteps Of Angels
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Four Winds, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Ghosts, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Goblet Of Life, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : God's-acre
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Good Part, That Shall Not Be Taken Away, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Hiawatha And Mudjekeewis
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Hiawatha And The Pearl-feather
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Hiawatha's Childhood

Previous 10 Poems

• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Famine, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Excelsior
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Evening Star, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Evangeline: A Tale Of Acadie
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Endymion
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Drinking Song
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Divina Commedia
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Death Of Kwasind, The
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Daybreak
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : Day Is Done, The