Here rest the weary oar! -- soft airs <br />Breathe out in the o'erarching sky; <br />And Night!-- sweet Night -- serenely wears <br />A smile of peace; her noon is nigh. <br /> <br />Where the tall fir in quiet stands, <br />And waves, embracing the chaste shores, <br />Move o'er sea-shells and bright sands,- <br />Is heard the sound of dipping oars. <br /> <br />Swift o'er the wave the light bark springs, <br />Love's midnight hour draws lingering near: <br />And list!-- his tuneful viol strings <br />The young Venetian Gondolier. <br /> <br />Lo! on the silver-mirrored deep, <br />On earth, and her embosomed lakes, <br />And where the silent rivers sweep, <br />From the thin cloud fair moonlight breaks <br /> <br />Soft music breathes around, and dies <br />On the calm bosom of the sea; <br />Whilst in her cell the novice sighs <br />Her vespers to her rosary. <br /> <br />At their dim altars bow fair forms, <br />In tender charity for those, <br />That, helpless left to life's rude storms, <br />Have never found this calm repose. <br /> <br />The bell swings to its midnight chime, <br />Relieved against the deep blue sky!-- <br />Haste!-- dip the oar again! -- 'tis time <br />To seek Genevra's balcony.<br /><br />Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-venetian-gondolier/
