 | Under Green Leaves |  |
113
THE MOUNTAIN TORRENT.
Fair Streamlet, running
Where violets grow,
Under the elm-trees,
Murmuring low;
Rippling gently
Amid the grass;
I have a fancy,
As I pass:
I have a fancy as I see
The trailing willows kissing thee;
As I behold the daisies pied,
The harebells nodding at thy side;
The sheep that feed upon thy brink,
The birds that stoop to thy wave to drink;
Thy blooms that tempt the bees to stray,
And all the life that tracks thy way.
Where violets grow,
Under the elm-trees,
Murmuring low;
Rippling gently
Amid the grass;
I have a fancy,
As I pass:
I have a fancy as I see
The trailing willows kissing thee;
As I behold the daisies pied,
The harebells nodding at thy side;
The sheep that feed upon thy brink,
The birds that stoop to thy wave to drink;
Thy blooms that tempt the bees to stray,
And all the life that tracks thy way.
114
I deem thou flowest
Through grassy meads,
To show the beauty
Of gentle deeds;
To show how happy
The world might be,
If men, observant,
Copied thee:
To show how small a stream may pour
Verdure and beauty on either shore;
To teach what humble men might do,
If their lives were pure, and their hearts were true;
And what a wealth they might dispense,
In modest, calm beneficence;
Marking their course, as thou dost thine,
By way-side flowers of love divine.
Through grassy meads,
To show the beauty
Of gentle deeds;
To show how happy
The world might be,
If men, observant,
Copied thee:
To show how small a stream may pour
Verdure and beauty on either shore;
To teach what humble men might do,
If their lives were pure, and their hearts were true;
And what a wealth they might dispense,
In modest, calm beneficence;
Marking their course, as thou dost thine,
By way-side flowers of love divine.
And, Streamlet, rushing,
With foam and spray,
Over the boulders
In thy way;
Leaping and rolling
From rock to cave,
A vast impetuous
Onward wave:
I have a fancy as I mark
Thy fall o'er the precipices dark;
As I behold thy power reveal'd,
And hear thy voice, like thunder peal'd;
I have a fancy as I sit
Under the rocks where thy rainbows flit,
And listen to thy roar and swell,
Sonorous, irresistible.
With foam and spray,
115
In thy way;
Leaping and rolling
From rock to cave,
A vast impetuous
Onward wave:
I have a fancy as I mark
Thy fall o'er the precipices dark;
As I behold thy power reveal'd,
And hear thy voice, like thunder peal'd;
I have a fancy as I sit
Under the rocks where thy rainbows flit,
And listen to thy roar and swell,
Sonorous, irresistible.
I deem thou leapest
Adown the rocks,
To show how little
Are Fortune's shocks
To him reliant,
Who knows his strength,
And measures evil—
Breadth and length:
I deem thou flowest to teach us still,
That perseverance conquers ill;
That no obstruction small or great,
Can daunt the soul that dares its fate;
That calm, true hearts in peril's hour
Confront it with superior power.
Here at thy side I sit and dream
These fancies twain, sweet Mountain Stream.
Adown the rocks,
To show how little
Are Fortune's shocks
116
Who knows his strength,
And measures evil—
Breadth and length:
I deem thou flowest to teach us still,
That perseverance conquers ill;
That no obstruction small or great,
Can daunt the soul that dares its fate;
That calm, true hearts in peril's hour
Confront it with superior power.
Here at thy side I sit and dream
These fancies twain, sweet Mountain Stream.
| Under Green Leaves | |