Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO THE RIVER ARVE, by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO THE RIVER ARVE, by             Poem Explanation     Poet's Biography
First Line: Not from the sands or cloven rocks
Last Line: Among the blossoms at their feet.
Subject(s): Alps; Mountains; Hills; Downs (great Britain)


(SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN AT A HAMLET
NEAR THE FOOT OF MONT BLANC)
.
NOT from the sands or cloven rocks,
Thou rapid Arve! thy waters flow;
Nor earth within its bosom, locks
Thy dark unfathomed wells below.
Thy springs are in the cloud, thy stream
Begins to move and murmur first
Where ice-peaks feel the noonday beam,
Or rain-storms on the glacier burst
Born where the thunder and the blast,
And morning's earliest light are born,
Thou rushest swoln, and loud, and fast,
By these low homes, as if in scorn:
Yet humbler springs yield purer waves;
And brighter, glassier streams than thine,
Sent up from earth's unlighted caves,
With heaven's own beam and image shine.
Yet stay! for here are flowers and trees;
Warm rays on cottage roofs are here,
And laugh of girls, and hum of bees --
Here linger till thy waves are clear.

Thou heedest not -- thou hastest on;
From steep to steep thy torrent falls,
Till, mingling with the mighty Rhone,
It rests beneath Geneva's walls.
Rush on -- but were there one with me
That loved me, I would light my hearth
Here, where with God's own majesty
Are touched the features of the earth.
By these old peaks, white, high, and vast,
Still rising as the tempests beat,
Here would I dwell, and sleep, at last,
Among the blossoms at their feet.





Discover our poem explanations - click here!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net