The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar/By The Stream
For other versions of this work, see By The Stream.
BY THE STREAM
By the stream I dream in calm delight, and watch as in a glass,How the clouds like crowds of snowy-hued and white-robed maidens pass,And the water into ripples breaks and sparkles as it spreads,Like a host of armored knights with silver helmets on their heads.And I deem the stream an emblem fit of human life may go,For I find a mind may sparkle much and yet but shallows show,And a soul may glow with myriad lights and wondrous mysteries,When it only lies a dormant thing and mirrors what it sees.