 | Poems |  |
13
THE STREAM.
Deep-cradled in the chambers of the earth,
A dark and narrow home, the stream lives on;
Till, stronger grown, it scrambles, as in mirth,
Forth from its rocky doors to see the sun.
A dark and narrow home, the stream lives on;
Till, stronger grown, it scrambles, as in mirth,
Forth from its rocky doors to see the sun.
Awhile his mountain nurse his course can stay,
A moment holds the tiny fingers, then
The little struggling rebel breaks away,
And gambols wildly laughing down the glen.
A moment holds the tiny fingers, then
The little struggling rebel breaks away,
And gambols wildly laughing down the glen.
At last the clatter of his feet is still,
And he has reached the bottom of the steep,
And wanders, as in wonder, from the hill
To where the long-leaved grasses stoop to sleep.
And he has reached the bottom of the steep,
And wanders, as in wonder, from the hill
To where the long-leaved grasses stoop to sleep.
14
Awhile he lingers 'neath the mountain ash,
Heaped round the base with many a mossy stone;
Then, gathering of its berries, with a dash
Leaps o'er the feeble barrier and is gone.
Heaped round the base with many a mossy stone;
Then, gathering of its berries, with a dash
Leaps o'er the feeble barrier and is gone.
Unwearied with his running and his play,
Through the wild ferny wood he longs to roam,
Where the thick hazel boughs shut out the day,
And Autumn's whirling leaves have found a home.
Through the wild ferny wood he longs to roam,
Where the thick hazel boughs shut out the day,
And Autumn's whirling leaves have found a home.
Where the hot cattle in the sultry noon
Come with the heavy trampling of their feet,
Till sunset calls them homeward, and the moon
Shines from the deep low lands of mist and heat.
Come with the heavy trampling of their feet,
Till sunset calls them homeward, and the moon
Shines from the deep low lands of mist and heat.
Freed from the wood, he lingers as he goes,
And saunters through the deep and grassy field,
And seems to feel the sweets of the repose
That the tall elms and sheltering hedges yield.
And saunters through the deep and grassy field,
And seems to feel the sweets of the repose
That the tall elms and sheltering hedges yield.
15
For these shut off the busy whirl without,
Where the world plies its business or its play;
Here is no breath of industry about,
Nor senseless merriment, nor dull holiday.
Where the world plies its business or its play;
Here is no breath of industry about,
Nor senseless merriment, nor dull holiday.
It were a fane for meditation meet,
The floor the green earth, and the roof the sky;
Here one might come after the mid-day heat,
And wildly dream on happiness gone by:
The floor the green earth, and the roof the sky;
Here one might come after the mid-day heat,
And wildly dream on happiness gone by:
When the full soul first feels the stroke of woe,
And careless eyes a further lease of breath,
For Love, that made life Paradise below,
Lies rudely torn by Distance or by Death.
And careless eyes a further lease of breath,
For Love, that made life Paradise below,
Lies rudely torn by Distance or by Death.
So might one muse, till with the dusty glare
Earth wearied sinks till busy morn shall rouse,
Unbinds her jewelled braids of raven hair,
And flings them dank and gleaming o'er her brows.
Earth wearied sinks till busy morn shall rouse,
Unbinds her jewelled braids of raven hair,
And flings them dank and gleaming o'er her brows.
16
But he must leave this land of melancholy,
Although his lingering footsteps seem to say,
This is the place of Solitude and holy,
Fain would we tarry from our outward way.
Although his lingering footsteps seem to say,
This is the place of Solitude and holy,
Fain would we tarry from our outward way.
But on the verge of the enchanted ground,
He hears the voice of action and of life;
And scattering all his dreaming, with a bound
Goes careless down to mingle in the strife.
He hears the voice of action and of life;
And scattering all his dreaming, with a bound
Goes careless down to mingle in the strife.
So to the beauty and romance farewell,
That dwelt among the forests and the hills,
That in the city and our streets shall dwell,
When Time the dream of deathless youth fulfils.
That dwelt among the forests and the hills,
That in the city and our streets shall dwell,
When Time the dream of deathless youth fulfils.
Through the foul habitations of the world,
Through many a temple stabled in by swine,
On he must toil when the long mists are curled
Around the dawn, and at the day's decline.
Through many a temple stabled in by swine,
On he must toil when the long mists are curled
Around the dawn, and at the day's decline.
17
There will not be the old light on his brow,
The lustrous eyelid shall grow dim, and then
Mirror the soul no more, as he moves through
The horrid things that haunt the haunts of men.
The lustrous eyelid shall grow dim, and then
Mirror the soul no more, as he moves through
The horrid things that haunt the haunts of men.
But not farewell the energy divine,
Which Freedom bare far from the dungeon bars
Of easeful wealth, in that her ancient shrine
Where the lone eagle sits among the stars:
Which Freedom bare far from the dungeon bars
Of easeful wealth, in that her ancient shrine
Where the lone eagle sits among the stars:
Until a day shall come when that is o'er:
And the gray traveller, in the darkening west,
Leaving long labour and th' opposing shore,
Meets the wide arms of Ocean, and of rest.
And the gray traveller, in the darkening west,
Leaving long labour and th' opposing shore,
Meets the wide arms of Ocean, and of rest.
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