A LITTLE while, O traveller! linger here, And let thy leisure eye behold and feel The beauties of the place; yon heathy hill That rises sudden from the vale so green, The vale far stretching as the view can reach Under its long dark ridge, the river here That, like a serpent, through the grassy mead Winds on, now hidden, glittering now in light. Nor fraught with merchant wealth, nor famed in song, This river rolls; an unobtrusive tide, Its gentle charms may soothe and satisfy Thy feelings. Look! how bright its pebbled bed Gleams through the ruffled current; and that bank With flag-leaves bordered, as with two-edged swords! See where the water wrinkles round the stem Of yonder water lily, whose broad leaf Lies on the wave,—and art thou not refresh'd By the fresh odour of the running stream? Soon, traveller! does the river reach the end Of all its windings; from the near ascent Thou wilt behold the ocean, where it pours Its waters and is lost. Remember thou, Traveller! that even so thy restless years Flow to the ocean of eternity. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A THOUGHT by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES STOCK AND VERMONT PUNKINS by DANIEL LEAVENS CADY |