University of Virginia Library

TO THE RIVER COLY.

Ah! soothing stream, whose murmurs clear
Meet, once again, my pensive ear,
That wand'rest down thine osier'd vale,
Where passion told her melting tale;
Thy evening banks to memory sweet,
I fondly trace, with pilgrim feet!
Here, stealing thro' the willow shade
That quiver'd o'er my charming maid,
Full oft hath youthful ardour prest
Trembling, the bloom on Laura's breast,
While to the languish of her eyes
That bosom heav'd and blush'd in sighs!
Then every twinkling leaf above
Seem'd conscious to the breath of love.
Sudden, the pathway's easy flow
Wav'd in a gentler curve below;
Each flower assum'd a soften'd hue,
And clos'd its cup in brighter dew!
Tho' not the same these views appear,
As when I rov'd a lover here;
Tho' far from Laura's smile I stray,
And slope my solitary way;
Yet—yet, with no cold glance I see
This winding path, that willow tree;
Yet, musing o'er thy channel bend,
And in each pebble find a friend;
And eager catch, at every pace,
Of former joys some fading trace—
Some features of the past, that seem
The faery painting of a dream!
But ah! the twilight shadows fall;
Dun evening hastes to darken all:
A duskier verdure clothes the dale;
The mossy branches glimmer pale:
And, Coly! the fair scene is o'er,
Thy lovelorn waters mark'd no more!