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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SONGS OF THE SEA CHILDREN: 49 by BLISS CARMAN

First Line: I WAS A REED IN THE STILLY STREAM
Last Line: HEIGH-LO.
Subject(s): NATURE;
I was a reed in the stilly stream,
Heigh-ho!
And thou my fellow of moveless dream,
Heigh-lo.
Hardly a word the river said,
As there we bowed him a listless head:
Only the yellowbird pierced the noon;
And summer died to a drowsier swoon,
Till the little wind of night came by,
With the little stars in the lonely sky,
And the little leaves that only stir,
When shiest wood-fellows confer.
It shook the stars in their purple sphere,
And laid a frost on the lips of fear.
It woke our slumbering desire,
As a breath that blows a mellow fire,
And the thrill that made the forest start,
Was a little sigh from our happy heart.
This is the story of the world,
Heigh-ho!
This is the glory of the world,
Heigh-lo.



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