Poems (Follen)/"Flow on, thou shining River"

by Eliza Lee Cabot Follen

"FLOW ON, THOU SHINING RIVER."

 "Flow on, thou shining river,"
  Flow gaily to the sea;
 Flow on in beauty ever,
  With all thy melody.
Where has thy gentle current strayed?
 Teach all thy joyous tale to me;
Let it flow on through light and shade;
 My song shall follow thee.

 Through meadows now meander,
  With graceful sweet delay;
 And now, through green woods wander,
  Where scarcely peeps the day:
Now, where the lofty bank hangs o'er,
 Pursue thy wild, romantic way;
Down the steep rocks now swiftly pour,
 Like time, that cannot stay.

 Its murmurs now increasing,
  On thy glad current goes;
 And now, with roar unceasing,
  The rapid torrent flows;
And now, all tossed in feathery foam,
 Sparkling with rainbow light it glows;
It seems impatient for its home,
 And hastening to repose.

 Flow on, thou shining river,
  Thou soon shalt reach the sea;
 Thus we are passing ever,
  And haste away like thee.
Wave after wave, in ceaseless flow,
 Moves onward to eternity:
O may the stream thy gladness know,
 And thy sweet melody!