Pebbles and Shells (Hawkes collection)/Watching and Waiting

by Clarence Hawkes

WATCHING AND WAITING

I love my silent watch to keep
Beside the river wide and deep,
 To sit beneath the shady hill
 When all the wood is hushed and still,
And watch the gentle ebb and flow
That dances in the vale below.

I love to hear the waters roar
As down the steep they madly pour,
 Or catch their softer melody
 Upon the breezes wild and free,
When wearily the river's breast
Smooths out its folds in tranquil rest.

I love to watch the silver light
Beneath the mantle of the night,
 When, rich and mellow over all,
 A flood of dancing moonbeams fall,
And every meteor and star
Is blazing in its realm afar.

In love's sweet season, in this shade
Long years ago I wooed a maid;
 A maiden fair as any flower
 That ever bloomed in Eden's bower,
And two young hearts beat tenderly,
Beside the river on the lea.

A cottage stands in yonder dell
Where one fleet year we two did dwell;
 And life was happy as a dream,
 And peaceful as the silver stream,
Until one day, beside the deep
My little darling fell asleep.

I called her long—I called her wild!
But cold in death she only smiled;
 I clasped her hand and bade her wake,
 I told her that my heart would break,
But cold in death her hand was chill,
Her ashen lips were mute and still.

'Twas long ago, that mournful day,
When tenderly we laid away
 The fairest flower in all the vale,
 All cold and lifeless fair and pale.
Folded her hands upon her breast
And gently laid her down to rest.

And now at fall of eventide
I wander by the riverside
 And sit me down beneath the tree
 That sheltered little Nell and me,
And by the river wide and deep
I calmly sit and wait for sleep.

And o'er the crag the waters break
And still my darling will not wake,
 And through the mead the river creeps
 And still sweet Nellie gently sleeps.
And o'er her grave the willow weeps,
And still my darling sleeps and sleeps.