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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE MISSISSIPPI, by FREDERICK OAKES SYLVESTER
First Line: And do you love my river
Last Line: The king of the rivers of earth.
Subject(s): Mississippi River; Rivers
First Line: And do you love my river
Last Line: The king of the rivers of earth.
Subject(s): Mississippi River; Rivers
AND do you love my river,
My stream of the tawny tones,
And do you find its world, indeed,
The rarest beauty owns?
Oh, I have seen it waken
To welcome home the dawn,
And I have seen its eyelids close
When the veil of night is drawn!
Yes, I have heard its laughter,
Have seen its glorious smile,
And I have felt it leap for joy
And shout for joy the while.
What speed on wind-swept courses,
What races 'gainst the breeze!
What secret pauses, songs and dreams
Under the brooding trees!
The hills clasp hands by its borders,
The forests sing by its side,
While the prairies that rival the ocean's realm
Surge round it far and wide.
It is the blood of the vales and the valleys,
It is wine for flower and tree,
It is pulse of the plains, the meadows' veins
And the land's great artery.
I know you love my river —
God grant you know its worth;
For He made it fair beyond compare,
The king of the rivers of earth.
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