Classic Poem

The maiden in the flowing stream
Dry hemp doth lay;
Her tears are falling in the stream
From those blue eyes so bright, that beam
The live-long day.

" Say maiden! what disturbs thy peace
The livelong day? "
" Deep wounds have stabb'd my spirit's peace,
And nought shall bid its misery cease
But life's decay. "

" And didst thou see a horrid dream
With pale affright? "
" O no! it was no frightful dream —
It was a shadow on the stream,
But not of night.

" It wore a wreth upon its head,
And took its flight;
Borne on the rapid stream it fled
With the green wreath upon its head —
My hopes to spite. "

The maiden in the flowing stream,
Dry hemp doth lay;
Her tears are falling in the stream,
Her blue eyes paled with life's last gleam
That flits away.