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And when once listened, it is ne'er forgot,
But thenceforth forms
A part and parcel of our being; for not all
Earth's jarring storms
Can scare that gentle music from the heart
It once hath entered: ne'er doth it depart,
But dwelleth like a fount within a cave
Or forest deep,
Answering to each light breeze whose gentle wing
Doth o'er it sweep,
And making doubly bright each tender beam
Of star or sun-light that doth o'er it gleam.
So, love of nature's harmony can bless
And gladden ever
The heart and fancy, as pellucid wave
Of fount or river
Flings back more bright what bright doth on it fall,
And its own radiance lends where else were none at all.
But I, in wandering rhymes, too long have chased
The shadowy things
Which oft-times flit before fantastic thought
On fancy's wings;
And though I well love dreamy themes like these,
Wend we now nearer to realities.
