Poems (Jones)/Floating on the Lake

by Amanda Theodosia Jones

FLOATING ON THE LAKE.

I.
IGHTLY floating on the lake
 All the merry, merry day;
How the swells arise and break,
 Flash and toss their pearly spray!
    While I dream—float and dream
     As the billows in my wake
    Roll and bubble, glide and gleam,
     Creep and vanish in the lake.

II.
Green the shore and fair the lake;
 Here the bark and there the glade;
Here the ripple, there the brake;
 Here the sun and there the shade.
    While I dream—float and dream,
     Would my heart might never wake!
    Swell and bubble, glide and gleam,
     Creep and sparkle, laughing lake.

III.
Sigh and murmur, swelling lake,
 I've a lover on the shore;
There he waits my hand to take,
 When my wayward mood is o'er.
    Still I dream—float and dream;
     Shall I never, never wake?
    Creep and bubble, glide and gleam,
     Sink and swell, O tossing lake!

IV.
Hark! the wind is on the lake;
 Shadows drift and veil the skies;
Yonder cloud begins to break,
 Forth the baleful lightning flies.
    Still I dream—float and dream;
     O my foolish heart, awake!
    See the billows roll and gleam,
     Rise and dash across the lake!

V.
Shoreward flying o'er the lake—
 Ah my friend, too long alone,
Faithful still though all forsake;
 Well my loving shall atone!
    While we dream—sweetly dream
     Suns may shine, or storms may break;
    Roll and bubble, glide and gleam—
     Love is brighter, swelling lake!