Belvarosi Bridge spanning the river Tisza in Szeged (Hungary)

And gazing out, I saw a sea around.
There, like a maniac just freed from chains,
the Tisza rushed in rage across the plains;
roaring and howling through the dyke it swirled,
greedy to swallow up the whole wide world.

End of the poem The Tisza

by Sándor Petofi

Pont du Gard over the Gardon River in Nimes, Gard (Francia)

"The hugeness, the solidity, the unexpectedness, the monumental rectitude of the whole thing leave you nothing to say—at the time—and make you stand gazing. You simply feel that it is noble and perfect, that it has the quality of greatness.”

Henry James, about the Pont du Gard

Puente Mayor (High Bridge) over the Carrión River in Carrión de los Condes, Palencia (Spain)

Carrión de los Condes, ¿sabes

de los Condes de Carrión?

De tus iglesias las naves

¿saben la navegación

de la fe? Corre la vena

del Carrión y es siempre una

y la misma; corre ajena

al correr de la fortuna.

Y al estallar el repique

de tus naves, ¿qué respondes?

¿No oyes a Jorge Manrique,

Carrión, Carrión de los Condes?

Mariano García Velasco

Japanese Bridge in the Gardens of Giverny, Eure (France)

How I dream of Giverny in this lovely weather and envy you for being there, you have no idea. But I am a prisoner and must see it through, despite being completely drained. It’s exhausting and I’m working with feverish ardour.”

Claude Monet

Lombard Bridge crossing the Alster River in Hamburg (Germany) depicted by R. Looij

 ...
Facilitator of many pleasures,
you delightful Alster River!
You enhance Hamburg’s uniqueness
and its happy enjoyments.
To honor you,
you playful stream,
let choirs sing
and jubilant spirits ring forth.

From the Song Die Alster

by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

The Spectacles in The Arches National Park, Utah (United States)

“Standing there, gaping at this monstrous and inhumane spectacle of rock and cloud and sky and space, I feel a ridiculous greed and possessiveness come over me. I want to know it all, posess it all, embrace the entire scene intimately, deeply, totally...”

Edward Abbey

Anfinns Bridge near Dovregubbens Hall, Dovrefjell National Park (Norway)

Slay him! The Christian man's son has seduced
The fairest maid of the Mountain King!
Slay him!
May I hack him on the fingers?
May I tug him by the hair?
Hu, hey, let me bite him in the haunches!
Shall he be boiled into broth and bree to me?
Shall he roast on a spit or be browned in a stewpan?
Ice to your blood!

Lyrics of I Dovergubbens Hall (In the Hall of the Mountain King) by Edvard Grieg

Wishing Bridge over the Loe River in the Gap of Dunloe, near Killarney (Ireland)

By Killarney's lakes and fells,
Em'rald isles and winding bays,
Mountain paths and woodland dells,
Mem'ry every fondly strays.
Bounteous nature loves all lands;
Beauty wanders ev'rywhere,
Footprints leaves on many strands,
But her home is surely there!
Angels fold their wings and rest,
In that Eden of the west,
Beauty's home, Killarney,
Ever fair Killarney!

Song Killarney

by Michael Balfe

San Miguel Bridge over the Bidasoa River in Vera de Bidasoa, Navarra (Spain) painted by artist Kiribil

"Para nosotros, los entusiastas de esta tierra, es el país del Bidasoa como una canción dulce, ligera, conocida, siempre vieja y siempre nueva".

Pío Baroja

Old Stone Bridge over the Prizren River in Prizren (Kosovo)

2000 vjet e thërras lirinë,
2000 vjet e pres drejtësinë,
mbrojta fis e far, emrin Shqiptar.
Sot e bej qiellin Shami, veq dy gisht e lidh mbi sy,
emrin kam Kosove, djepin iliri...

For 2000 years i call for freedom,

For 2000 years i wait for justice,

I defend my own kind, the name of Albanian.

Today the sky is my cap, I have it over my head,

My name is Kosovo, My cradle is Illyria…

Song Garda e Kosovës by Ilir Shaqiri

Footbridge over the pond of the Futuroscope Park, near Poitiers, Vienne (France)

L’année 2027 s’annonce dense au Futuroscope. Le parc fêtera ses 40 ans. Un anniversaire qui sera célébré pendant toute l’année, ont annoncé mercredi Rodolphe Bouin, son directeur général, et Olivier Héral, directeur de création. Ils ont présenté une partie des événements et animations programmés lors du Salon international et français des professionnels du tourisme, à Paris, mercredi 16 septembre.

La Nouvelle Republique, 16/09/2026

Japanese Bridge over the lake of Perdana Botanical Garden in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

Skyscrapers towerin' the masses gatherin' in a city

Of limitless chances and wealth sense shattering
Development materialistic inhabitants
Stressful in their lifestyles
Migrants emergin' from miles apart
Depart from their birthplace to metropolitan KL
Infamous capital where I dwell

From the song Kuala Lumpur

by Poetic Ammo

Bridge over the Moselle River between Longuich and Schweich, Rhineland - Palatinate (Germany)

The fair Moselle. River, accept from me
These greetings – for your fields you’ve earned ovations,
And those who till them too; your fortifications
Match Rome’s. You flow beneath the scrutiny
Of vine-filled ridges. Ah, what verdancy!

From the poem The Mosel

by roman poet Ausonius

John Grace Bridge and Silas Pearman Bridge over the Cooper River in Charleston, South Carolina (United States)

In my mind, I'm goin' to Carolina
Can't you see the sunshine?
Now can't you just feel the moonshine?
And ain't it just like a friend of mine to hit me from behind?
Yes, I'm goin' to Carolina in my mind

Excerpt from Carolina on my Mind

by James Taylor

Bokfjord Bridge over the Paatsjoki River in Sør-Varanger (Norway)

" Norway, land of the midnight sun, where the beauty of nature never ceases to a maze."

From Peer Gynt

by Henrik Ibsen

Gouritz River Bridge near Mossel Bay, Western Cape (South Africa)

“Africa has her mysteries and even a wise man cannot understand them. But a wise man respects them.”

Miriam Makeba

Gion Bridge over the Machiyamaguchi River in Amakusa (Japan)

Is it clouds? Or mountains? Is it Wu? Or Yue?The water and the heavens separated by a single hair
After countless miles anchoring the boat in the Sea of Amakusa
The mist moving past my window, the sun gradually sinks.
I glimpse a giant fish jumping between the waves
The light of Venus, bright as the moon, strikes the boat.

Old poem by Rai San'Yo

Niederrhein Brucke over the Rhine River in Wesel, North Rhine - Westphalia (Germany)

Beneath me flows the Rhine, and, like the stream of Time, it flows amid the ruins of the Past.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

San Juanico Bridge over the San Juanico Strait between Taclobán and Santa Rita (Philippines)

An unnamed woman was the person in charge to oversee construction of the bridge. She consulted with a spiritist, who told her that the bridge could not be completed unless blood is offered to the nature spirits of the area. She was then revealed to be the ex-first lady Imelda Marcos, who trusted the advice so she ordered street children to be kidnapped from their families. A local diwata (mythological nature spirit), saw the plight of the children and took pity. According to this urban legend, the diwata cursed Mrs. Marcos to grow fish scales on her legs and that she would always stink like a fish.

Legend

Roman bridge spanning the Nivelle River in Ascain, Pyrenées Atlantiques (France)

"Un lien secret et profond, et que rien n’a pu rompre, unit, même en dépit des traités, des frontières diplomatiques même en dépit des Pyrénées, ces frontières naturelles, tous les membres de la mystérieuse famille basque.. On naît basque, on parle basque, on vit basque et l’on meurt basque."

Víctor Hugo about the Basque Country

Mitchell Bridge over the Mtamvuna River in Kwazulu Natal region (South Africa)

If a traveler attempts to cross Mtamvuna Rier while harboring hidden misdeeds or an unconfessed guilty conscience, the water spirits (abantu bomambo or water deities) will become angry and carry them away into the depths.

Legend of Mtamvuna River

Latin Bridge across the Miljacka River in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

 " ...I thought that I would kill him so that no one would know anything further, and then kill myself, too. I abandoned that idea, because I saw that the automobiles passed by. Up to then I had not seen the Archduke. I went to the Latin Bridge and then I heard that the assassination had not succeeded. Then I took thought as to where to stand, because I knew where he would pass ...""

Gavrilo Princip, in the trial about Achduke Franz Ferdinand assesination near this bridge

Chapel Bridge over the river Reuss in Lucerne (Swtizerland)

14th century Swiss landmark is destroyed by fire. Fire on Wednesday almost totally demolished Lucerne's 14th century Kapellbrücke, the wooden covered bridge across the Reuss River in the city center. Offials said the fire claimed almost all the walls and roof and all but 30 of the more than 100 paintings that decored the bridge.

International Herald Tribune, 19th august, 1993

Zollamtssteg over the Wien River in Vienna (Austria) painted by Winjent

"Something impractical cannot be beautiful"

Otto Wagner, designer of this bridge

Yingwuzhou Bridge (Parrot Island Bridge) over the Yangtze River in Wuhan, Hubei (China)

A fisherman

skirting shore

in his high-prowed skiff

crossing bamboo oars

comes up with a jolt –

nets catch not fish

but the wizened finger

of a submerged branch

for below

a sunken valley persists –

slick bare trunks

furred in wafting fronds

have water for sky,

ghost forest.

Roots rot deep in the hill

where buried rock

is still dry.

Excerpt from the poem Yangtze by Sarah Howe