Master and Scholar etc. etc. By E. H. Plumptre: Second edition with notes |
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THE RIVER. |
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 | Master and Scholar |  |
129
THE RIVER.
Down-trickling, soft and slow,
Where the green mosses grow,
The baby streamlet hardly wakes the hush
That broods o'er yonder height,
Where falls the calm, low light,
And moor and peak give back the crimson flush.
Where the green mosses grow,
The baby streamlet hardly wakes the hush
That broods o'er yonder height,
Where falls the calm, low light,
And moor and peak give back the crimson flush.
Then, as its waters swell,
O'er crag, and rock, and fell,
They pour in many a thread of silver sheen;
And now their clearer voice
Bids hill and vale rejoice,
And sweet, low echoes pierce the still serene.
O'er crag, and rock, and fell,
They pour in many a thread of silver sheen;
And now their clearer voice
Bids hill and vale rejoice,
And sweet, low echoes pierce the still serene.
Wider and wider still,
Half river and half rill,
The calmer current gladdens all the fields;
The banks are green and fair,
And many a flow'ret bear,
And every breeze Æolian murmurs yields
Half river and half rill,
The calmer current gladdens all the fields;
The banks are green and fair,
And many a flow'ret bear,
And every breeze Æolian murmurs yields
130
There, in its golden bloom,
The cowslip breathes perfume,
Gray willows twist their branches hoar and brown;
There sails in order meet
The duckling's velvet fleet,
Or cygnet's argosy of golden down.
The cowslip breathes perfume,
Gray willows twist their branches hoar and brown;
There sails in order meet
The duckling's velvet fleet,
Or cygnet's argosy of golden down.
Past pleasant village-spire,
Past cheerful cottage fire,
In tranquil course flows on the nobler stream,
Spanned in its statelier march
By many a moss-grown arch,
Through which the sparkling ripples glance and gleam.
Past cheerful cottage fire,
In tranquil course flows on the nobler stream,
Spanned in its statelier march
By many a moss-grown arch,
Through which the sparkling ripples glance and gleam.
Now on its bosom float
White sails of fisher's boat,
Young swimmers stem the current swift and strong;
Clear through the silent air
Ring voices free from care,
Youth's laughing shout and maiden's joyous song.
White sails of fisher's boat,
Young swimmers stem the current swift and strong;
Clear through the silent air
Ring voices free from care,
Youth's laughing shout and maiden's joyous song.
Onward past ancient halls,
Onward past castle-walls,
Each with wild legends of an earlier time,—
Stories of red-cross knight,
True to the death in fight,
Lay of true love, or darker tale of crime.
Onward past castle-walls,
Each with wild legends of an earlier time,—
Stories of red-cross knight,
True to the death in fight,
Lay of true love, or darker tale of crime.
131
And now, on either side,
Rise, in exulting pride,
A city's turrets, palaces of state;
The Minster's glorious tower
Looks down on hall and bower,
On fortress, market, churches, quay, and gate.
Rise, in exulting pride,
A city's turrets, palaces of state;
The Minster's glorious tower
Looks down on hall and bower,
On fortress, market, churches, quay, and gate.
Broad sweeps the mightier flood,
Where once a forest stood,
Now all waste marish, fen, and reed-grown shore;
And far on either hand
We see the distant sand,
And hear the sea's loud murmurs evermore.
Where once a forest stood,
Now all waste marish, fen, and reed-grown shore;
And far on either hand
We see the distant sand,
And hear the sea's loud murmurs evermore.
Tall ships at anchor ride,
Their country's joy and pride,
And bring from East and West their priceless freight;
All store of Nature's gifts
On that broad current drifts,
The decks are laden with the glorious weight.
Their country's joy and pride,
And bring from East and West their priceless freight;
All store of Nature's gifts
On that broad current drifts,
The decks are laden with the glorious weight.
Then flowing far and free
Into the boundless sea,
The yellow waters stain the crystal blue;
At last its course is done,
And lo! the westering sun
Floods sea and river with one roseate hue.
Into the boundless sea,
The yellow waters stain the crystal blue;
At last its course is done,
And lo! the westering sun
Floods sea and river with one roseate hue.
132
Flow on, ye rivers wide,
Welcome the changing tide,
Bear on your breast the costly argosy;
Flow, fountains, from the hill;
Flow, through thy meadow, rill;
Flow, baby streamlet, flow to yonder sea.
Welcome the changing tide,
Bear on your breast the costly argosy;
Flow, fountains, from the hill;
Flow, through thy meadow, rill;
Flow, baby streamlet, flow to yonder sea.
So flows our human life,
With mightier issues rife,
Onward and onward to a wider sea;
We note its feeble source,
We track its wandering course,
We know not what its destiny shall be.
With mightier issues rife,
Onward and onward to a wider sea;
We note its feeble source,
We track its wandering course,
We know not what its destiny shall be.
Ah! well if it shall go,
With clear and crystal flow,
Rejoicing, gladdening, blessing still and blest;
In childhood, youth, and age,
Through all its pilgrimage,
Still hastening to the Ocean of its Rest.
With clear and crystal flow,
Rejoicing, gladdening, blessing still and blest;
In childhood, youth, and age,
Through all its pilgrimage,
Still hastening to the Ocean of its Rest.
But ah! if it shall waste,
Its strength in reckless haste,
The wild stream dashing to the depths below;
Or see, in dull decay,
All brightness fade away,
In marsh and fen half stagnate foul and slow.
Its strength in reckless haste,
The wild stream dashing to the depths below;
Or see, in dull decay,
All brightness fade away,
In marsh and fen half stagnate foul and slow.
133
Oh! that our life might bear,
Sweet music to His ear,
Whom the great waters praise for evermore,
Attuned to anthems high,
In glorious harmony,
Till it too break upon the Eternal Shore.
Sweet music to His ear,
Whom the great waters praise for evermore,
Attuned to anthems high,
In glorious harmony,
Till it too break upon the Eternal Shore.
April 1865.
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