Kalepa Bridge in the road to Hana, Maui Island, Hawaii (United States)

Heavenly Hana
Where tropic skies are blue
And angels rendezvous
This is paradise

Your beauty is nature’s jealousy
Caressed in ecstacy
Hana paradise

Lyrics from Heavenly Hana

by John Watkins

Maling Gorge Arch Bridge spanning the river Malinghe in Xingyi, Guizhou (China)

"Guizhou is a beautiful and romantic place with fresh air, clean water and lush mountains. It is also a place of culture with unique music and poetry passed on by various ethnic groups from generation to generation,"

Haim Dotan

Benson Bridge over the Columbia River in Multnomah County, Oregon (United States)

The head chief of the Multnomah people had a beautiful young daughter. Because the chief had lost all of his sons in battle, he cherished his daughter with all of his heart. He chose her husband from the neighboring Clatsop people with great care. A great wedding feast was planning. However, a great sickness befell the people. After confiding in council, an old medicine man told the chief of a prophecy that a disease that would befall the people. A young maiden, the daughter of a chief, must sacrifice herself to save their people. The head chief refused to allow this. However, when the young maiden discovered her soon to be husband stricken by the disease as well, she went up to the top of the cliffs and jumped. The next morning, the people found the young maiden on the rocks below. Her father, the chief, prayed to the Great Spirit to show a sign that his daughter had been welcomed in heaven. At once, the water began to fall, and Multnomah Falls were formed.

Multnomah legend

Cataract Falls Covered Bridge over the Mill Creek in the Owen County, Indiana (United States)

Back home again in Indiana
And it seems that I can see
The gleaming candlelight, still burning bright
Through the sycamores for me
The new-mown hay sends all its fragrance
Through the fields I used to roam
When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash
How I long for my Indiana home.

Lyrics from Indiana 

Louis Armstrong

Old Bridge over the Shirakumo Waterfall in the Nikko National Park (Japan) painted by Takahashi Shotei

A clear waterfall,

into the ripples

fall green pine-needles

Overhanging pine…

adding its mite of needles

to the waterfall

Haikus by 

Matsuo Basho

Pont d'Espagne in Cauterets, Hautes Pyréneés (France) painted by Paul Champseix

Sur ces monts des pins aussi vieux que le monde

A leur pied se dèploi una pleinte féconde

Au mileu de ces champs paraissent des hamaux,

de bergers fortunés de nombreux troupaux

From Les Pyréneés de la Bigorre

by Arnaud Abbadie

Bridge over the Ciempiés Creek in the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, La Palma Island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spain)

Ese mar que me aleja de ti

no consigue que pueda olvidar

que La Palma es la isla mía

dónde yo aprendí a soñar.

La distancia me hace añorar

el sonido de un timple escuchar

que rompiendo la quieta noche

acompaña a la isa cantar.

Yo Quisiera volver a La Palma

revivir otra vez mi niñez

encontrar el calor de mi gente

aunque vuelva a perderlo después.

Cuando veo una flor

no me puedo olvidar

que una palmera fue

quién me enseñó a amar.

Song Isla Mía

by Ezequiel Perdigón to the La Palma island

Weissenstein Bridge crossing the Nagold River in Pforzheim, Baden-Württenberg (Germany)

O Schwarzwald, o Heimat, wie bist du so schön!
Wie lokken das Herz deine schwarzdunkeln Höhn
Zum fröhlichen Wandern in Hochsommerzeit,
Zum Rasten in heimlicher Einsamkeit,
Im traulichen Mühlgrund, bei Quellengetön:
O Schwarzwald, o Heimat, wie bist du so schön!
O Schwarzwald, o Heimat, wohl hat mir die Welt
Mit köstlichen Wundern die Seele geschwellt:
Die lachende Ferne erschloß ihre Pracht,
Doch hab' ich in Liebe stets deiner gedacht,
Im Traum sah ich winken die schwarzdunkeln Höhn:
O Schwarzwald, o Heimat, wie bist du so schön!

O Schwarzwald, o Heimat
Ludwig Auerbach

Pony Bridge over the Quinault River in the Olympic National Park, Washington (United States)

Located in the north-west of Washington State, Olympic National Park is renowned for the diversity of its ecosystems. Glacier-clad peaks interspersed with extensive alpine meadows are surrounded by an extensive old growth forest, among which is the best example of intact and protected temperate rainforest in the Pacific Northwest. Eleven major river systems drain the Olympic mountains, offering some of the best habitat for anadromous fish species in the country.

The Olympic National Park described as

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Bridge over a creek in The Black Forest near Menzenschwand, Baden-Württemberg (Germany)

THE soul of man

Resembleth water:

From heaven it cometh,

To heaven it soareth.

And then again

To earth descendeth,

Changing ever.

Down from the lofty

Rocky wall

Streams the bright flood,

Then spreadeth gently

In cloudy billows

O'er the smooth rock,

And welcomed kindly,

Veiling, on roams it,

Soft murmuring,

Tow'rd the abyss.

Spirit Song over the Water

Goethe

Bridge over the Sauer River near Mullertall (Luxembourg)

Bridges over a creek in Varenna (Italy)

Aspettando il traghetto

osserviamo l'ultimo sole

indorare in modo esagerato

la città in riva al lago 

e il lago stesso

come per ripeterci che noi

non abbiamo bisogno di cercare altrove:

l'immanenza è il mistero

dove la colonna del sole calante

si riflette in un'alta

verticale invadenza

che pare olio tremolante

e scarica sulla spiaggia

fiamme che fanno lotta e danze

in ogni vibrazione

della sfuggente sostanza,

quindi un monte si frappone,

i fili di fuoco si sfanno

e l'acqua che si oscura 

traghetta la notte nella baia.

Varenna

Charles Tomlinson

Footbridge over one of the lakes in the Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatia)

Nei boschi
attorno alle splendide acque
ancora vagano i ragazzi,
ma dai cespugli segreti
dove ridevano in amore
ora tendono agguati.
Nel silenzio
la memoria
mescola orrore e tenerezza.

Plitvice

Omero Sala

Bridge over the Krka River in Krka National Park (Croatia)

An ancient dalmatian prince, named Bogoje, decided to marry his son Bogdan to a beautiful girl Miljeva. But on the wedding day,from the canyon of the river Krka a dragon appeared, grabbed the girl and carried her into Krka river. Her husband Bogdan fought the dragon, but he also drowned. After the sad tragedy, the father wall up two village girls in the walls of the fort Nečven in order to cry for his son day and night. Prince Bogoje built a monastery on the River Krka and bridge over the waterfall Roški.

Legend about the Krka River

Brikdalsfossen Bridge crossing the Brykdal River in the Briksdalsbreen National Park (Norway)

What is the name you called me?
And why did you go so soon?
The crows lift their caws on the wind,
And the wind changed and was lonely.
The warblers cry thier sleepy-songs
Across the valley gloaming,
Across the cattle-horns of early stars.
Feathers and people in the crotch of a treetop
Throw an evening waterfall of sleepy-songs.
What is the name you called me?--
And why did you go so soon?

Evening Waterfall

Carl Sandburg

Rheinfallbrucke crossing the Rhine River in Schaffhausen (Switzerland)

Halte dein Herz, o Wanderer, fest in gewaltigen Händen! Mir entstürzte vor Lust zitternd das meinige fast. Rastlos donnernde Massen auf donnernde Massen geworfen, Ohr und Auge, wohin retten sie sich im Tumult?

Hold your heart, oh traveller, tightly in mighty hands! Mine nearly descended, shivering with pleasure. Restless thundering masses thrown upon masses, ear and eye, whither can they save themselves in such an uproar?

Poem to the Rhine Falls

Eduard Morike

Spanish Bridge across the river Gave de Marcadou in Cauterets, Hautes Pyrénées (France)

"Imagine, Louis, I get up every day at four o’clock in the morning and at this hour, which is both dark and light at the same time, I set off for the mountains. I walk along a mountain stream, I plunge into the wildest gorge there is and, on the pretext of taking a dip in the hot water and drinking sulphur, I witness a new, unexpected and wonderful sight every day."

Víctor Hugo about Cauterets

Pont Brioule crossing the river Gave de Gavarnie in Gavarnie (France)

Qu’est-ce donc que cet objet inexplicable  qui ne peut pas être une montagne et qui a la auteur des montagnes, qui ne peut pas être une muraille et a la forme des murailles ? C’est une montagne et une muraille tout à la fois ; c’est l’édifice le plus mystérieux du plus mystérieux des architectes ; c’est le Colisseum de la nature; c'est Gavarnie.

Victor Hugo

Bridge over the Piedra River in the Monasterio de Piedra (Stone Monastery) Natural Park, Zaragoza (Spain)

“Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worst kind of suffering.”

Quote from book

By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

from Paulo Coelho

Bridge over the Jarda brook in the Picos de Europa National Park, León (Spain)

“Who looks upon a river in a meditative hour, and is not reminded of the flux of all things?”

Fragmento de Nature

Ralph Waldo Emerson