Sweet and still the moonlight lies Along the path we know so well; Softly in the distance dies The echo of the evening bell. Here I stand beside the spring, Placid in its deeps below— Empty heart to it I bring To fill with thoughts of long ago. Gently dreaming here I think That I would find De Leon's quest; Bending o'er the spring to drink A fabled draught to make me blest. Pain and sorrow now are fled, Joy and peace again are mine; Hopes, no longer with the dead, Return and make the world divine. Fear of parting never more, Oh! fountain of eternal youth, Shall destroy the happy lore That comes to one who knows the truth. Here I have the precious prize The Spaniard sought o'er land and sea; All the glowing hilltops rise Resplendent in their mystery. Glorified the song of life Shall rise from vale to mountain peak, Men forgetting all their strife Will here a glad contentment seek. Like an answer to their prayer This spot they'll hail as if t'were home, Earth and sky will shine more fair; No farther will they wish to roam. Stricken hearts with sorrow bowed May here their burden haply bring, And, parting from the heedless crowd, Shall learn the Secret of the Spring. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SONG OF THE INGENUES by PAUL VERLAINE A VALEDICTION: OF WEEPING by JOHN DONNE THE LARK ASCENDING by GEORGE MEREDITH AN ESSAY ON CRITICISM by ALEXANDER POPE SONNET: 146 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE TO H. M. by FRANCIS BARNARD (20TH CENTURY) A FADING PHANTOM by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN LINES SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY BURNS by ROBERT BURNS |