Page:Poems Denver.djvu/317

Then returning with new vigor,
 Like a courser o'er the plain,
To the place from which it started,
 Back it boundeth once again.

Once I stood beside that river,
 With thy name upon my lips,
Whose dear eyes in silent sorrow,
 Closed so soon in death's eclipse;
Then from cave to cave it echoed,
 With a sob, a sigh, a start,
Till, returning with a murmur,
 Back it nestled in my heart.

And it rests there, silent, sacred
 From the littleness of earth;
A dear memory ever treasured
 For its nobleness and worth.
And with hopeful patience ever
 I look upward by God's grace,
Till near the crystal river
 I shall meet thee face to face.

Not as there within that cavern,
 With its echoings profound,
Shall I hear thy name repeated
 With a cold and mocking sound;