University of Virginia Library

DRIFTED.

I sat by the stream, and waited and watched,
In the years of long ago,
And I saw the great waters rise and fall,
With their wonderful ebb and flow.
I saw them rise and I saw them fall,
And marveled what they would bring,
And prayed as I sat by the waving stream,
For some lovely wondrous thing.
Then saw I at last on the glistening waves
A golden and mystic ring.
“It is Love, oh welcome! 't is Love, 't is Love!”
E'en thus did I gladly sing.
But it floated near, and I saw 't was but
A yellow weed of the sea;
And it slipped from my eager trembling hands,
And drifted away from me.
And I saw afar on the swelling waves
A wreath floating down to me,
And I cried aloud, “It is Fame! 't is Fame!”
But this, too, drifted to sea.
Then saw I a bark on the waters wide
That rocked on the snowy foam,
And I cried, “At last I've a shelter found.
I've found a friend and a home!”
But the bark drew nigh, and I found a wreck,
An old hull useless for sea,
And I followed it long with yearning gaze,
As it drifted far from me.
And I sit e'en yet on the lonely shore,
Beside the great river free,
And pray for the time when I too shall drift
Downward away to the sea.