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Poems (Denver)/The River Echo

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4524038Poems — The River EchoMary Caroline Denver and Jane Campbell Denver
THE RIVER ECHO.
In the heart of green Kentucky,
With its woods and mountains blent,
Lies a cave of wondrous beauty,
Rare and most magnificent.
In its chambers cold and lofty,
Strange shapes of crystal rise,
Gem-like in their icy splendor,
Antique in their imageries.

Through that cavern vast and wondrous
Runs a river deep and broad,
With its ever-swelling billows,
Surging through the dim abode.
Toward the world of light they struggle
With a never-ending strife,
Like a great soul in thick darkness,
Searching for the way of life.

And they call that river, Echo;
For a sound cast on its wave,
Quickly caught, as by enchantment,
Rebounds from cave to cave;
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;
But will see thee clothed in radiance,
Such as only angels wear,
With the new name God has given,
Written on thy forehead fair.