Classic Poem

Hail loveliest, purest scene!
How brightly mingling with the clear, blue sky,
Thy glancing wave arrests the upward eye,
Through thy grove's leafy screen.

Through thy transparent veil,
And wide around thee, Nature's grandest forms,
Rocks, built for ages to abide the storms,
Frown on the subject dale.

Fed by the rapid stream,
In every crevice of that savage pile,
The living herbs, as with a quiet smile,
Repay the gladdening beam.

And over all, that gush
Of rain-drops, sparkling to the noon-day sun!
While ages round thee on their course have run,
Ceaseless thy waters rush.

I would not that the bow,
With gorgeous hues should light thy virgin stream,
Better thy white and sun-lit foam should gleam
Thus, like unsullied snow.

Yes! thou hast seen the woods
Around, for centuries rise, decay, and die,
While thou hast poured thy endless current by
To join the eternal floods.

The ages pass away,
Successive nations rise, and are forgot,
But on thy brilliant course thou pausest not,
Mid thine unchanging spray.

When I have sunk to rest,
Thus wilt thou pass, in calm sublimity.
Then be thy power to others, as to me
On the deep soul impressed.

Here does a spirit dwell
Of gratitude, and contemplation high,
Holding deep union with eternity.—
O loveliest scene, farewell!