 | Poems Lyrical and Dramatic |  |
212
THE RIVER'S PILGRIMAGE.
Down hills, along valleys
The waterfalls go,
Through leafy long alleys
Of blossom like snow;
Their music and thunder
Reverberate under
The green dipping arches, that sway with their flow.
The waterfalls go,
Through leafy long alleys
Of blossom like snow;
Their music and thunder
Reverberate under
The green dipping arches, that sway with their flow.
O'er sand, over shingle,
In rhythm and rhyme,
The crisp ripples tingle,
And tinkle, and chime,
Or slide over edges
Of polished rock ledges,
Grown o'er with green mosses, and slippy with slime.
In rhythm and rhyme,
The crisp ripples tingle,
And tinkle, and chime,
Or slide over edges
Of polished rock ledges,
Grown o'er with green mosses, and slippy with slime.
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Through dank dripping tunnels
Choked up with lush fern,
In clear silver runnels,
In brawling brown burn,
The waters run onward
To seaward and sunward
With sudden start forward, with tangle and turn,
Choked up with lush fern,
In clear silver runnels,
In brawling brown burn,
The waters run onward
To seaward and sunward
With sudden start forward, with tangle and turn,
In boisterous riot,
In sheeny white calm,
Round island and eyot
High tufted like palm,
'Neath hoar mountain ridges,
By forests, through bridges,
Past gardens of Paradise breathing with balm.
In sheeny white calm,
Round island and eyot
High tufted like palm,
'Neath hoar mountain ridges,
By forests, through bridges,
Past gardens of Paradise breathing with balm.
With silver gyrations
The swift eddies swirl,
Or in smooth undulations
Unbrokenly curl,
They welter and wallow
In slumberous hollow,
And loud over gravel beds patter and purl.
The swift eddies swirl,
Or in smooth undulations
Unbrokenly curl,
They welter and wallow
In slumberous hollow,
And loud over gravel beds patter and purl.
214
They loiter and tarry
In sweet shady nooks,
Or boil where they marry
The white water brooks;
They plunge with a spasm
In crevice and chasm,
And foaming emerge to the heavens' bright looks;
In sweet shady nooks,
Or boil where they marry
The white water brooks;
They plunge with a spasm
In crevice and chasm,
And foaming emerge to the heavens' bright looks;
By castle and manor,
With turrets like fire,
And many a banner
On many a spire;
By low-lying granges,
With long linden ranges;
Cathedrals and abbeys, that ring with the choir,
With turrets like fire,
And many a banner
On many a spire;
By low-lying granges,
With long linden ranges;
Cathedrals and abbeys, that ring with the choir,
Where at night the rich casement,
All blazoned with saints,
The wave by the basement
Empurples and paints,
And lights broken and shattered
Like rainbows lie scattered,
And the voice of the organ low murmurs and faints,
All blazoned with saints,
The wave by the basement
Empurples and paints,
And lights broken and shattered
Like rainbows lie scattered,
And the voice of the organ low murmurs and faints,
215
And by day the tall steeple
Hangs mirrored below,
And the priests and the people
Go by to and fro,
And the rude eddies roister
Past convent and cloister
Where in whispering couples the white sisters go;
Hangs mirrored below,
And the priests and the people
Go by to and fro,
And the rude eddies roister
Past convent and cloister
Where in whispering couples the white sisters go;
By clump, and by cluster
Of hamlets that lie
Serene in the lustre
Of earth and of sky;
By forges that clamour
With anvil and hammer;
By cities that echo, and whisper, and sigh;
Of hamlets that lie
Serene in the lustre
Of earth and of sky;
By forges that clamour
With anvil and hammer;
By cities that echo, and whisper, and sigh;
By quays where great galleons
Unload the rich bale,
To embark bright battalions
All burning in mail,
Or with broad pennons flaring
And clarions blaring
Drop down unto seaward with snowy white sail;
Unload the rich bale,
To embark bright battalions
All burning in mail,
Or with broad pennons flaring
And clarions blaring
Drop down unto seaward with snowy white sail;
216
Through perilous bridges
On tottering piles,
O'ergrown with grey ridges
Of mouldering tiles,
Where weary winds whistle
O'er ramparts that bristle
With hollow round turrets on bastioned isles;
On tottering piles,
O'ergrown with grey ridges
Of mouldering tiles,
Where weary winds whistle
O'er ramparts that bristle
With hollow round turrets on bastioned isles;
And palace-walls fretted
And carved and inlaid,
Wave-worn and wave-wetted,
With slim colonnade,
Where a soft silken sighing,
Like shore waves a-dying,
Slips down the white stairs by the broad balustrade,
And carved and inlaid,
Wave-worn and wave-wetted,
With slim colonnade,
Where a soft silken sighing,
Like shore waves a-dying,
Slips down the white stairs by the broad balustrade,
And the waves catch the glimmer
Of scarves and of shawls,
And golden hair dimmer
Than starlight that falls,
And flagons that twinkle,
And clatter, and tinkle
In sweet dim recesses of musical halls;
Of scarves and of shawls,
And golden hair dimmer
Than starlight that falls,
And flagons that twinkle,
And clatter, and tinkle
In sweet dim recesses of musical halls;
217
By dungeons the glory
Of day never stains,
They hear the sad story
Of madmen in chains,
That rave to the lashing
Of wild waters dashing
With measured monotony beating their brains;
Of day never stains,
They hear the sad story
Of madmen in chains,
That rave to the lashing
Of wild waters dashing
With measured monotony beating their brains;
Then out among meadows
They flash and they foam,
Half flecked with sharp shadows,
Or dun with soft gloom,
Where the sunlight impinges
Through prim willow fringes,
Like wan leaves that flit o'er the face of a tomb.
They flash and they foam,
Half flecked with sharp shadows,
Or dun with soft gloom,
Where the sunlight impinges
Through prim willow fringes,
Like wan leaves that flit o'er the face of a tomb.
Now hasty, now easy,
Half sadness, half mirth,
Sweet, dappled, and breezy,
And smelling of earth,
Unsullied and simple,
With smile and with dimple,
It burns, the sweet stream, for the far ocean firth;
Half sadness, half mirth,
Sweet, dappled, and breezy,
And smelling of earth,
Unsullied and simple,
With smile and with dimple,
It burns, the sweet stream, for the far ocean firth;
218
And the crumpled pink petal
From fair almond-trees
Will flutter and settle
Like foam on the seas;
So with many a blossom
Upon its bare bosom
It hastens along by the woodlands and leas.
From fair almond-trees
Will flutter and settle
Like foam on the seas;
So with many a blossom
Upon its bare bosom
It hastens along by the woodlands and leas.
| Poems Lyrical and Dramatic | |