River of banks and woods and waters green,
With all of beauty to attract the eye,
Why leaps my heart, as past thy shores we fly?
Art thou not quiet as an infant=s dream,
Pure as its thoughts, unruffled as its brow
When circled by its mother=s arms in sleep,
While o=er it she doth still her vigil keep?
Then wherefore leaps my heart so wildly now?
Hark to that roar, deep as the thunder=s tone,
And in the distance see the sun=s last ray
Falling on clouds of never-ceasing spray.
In its wild beatings is my heart alone?
Thou glidest on to meet that battling flood,
Fearless as warrior to the field of blood!
