Down by the river's bank I stray'd, Upon an autumn day; Beside the fading forest there, I saw a child at play. She play'd among the yellow leaves- The leaves that once were green, And flung upon the passing stream What once had blooming been: Oh! deeply did it touch my heart To see that child at play: It was the sweet, unconscious sport Of childhood with decay. Fair child, if by this stream you stray When after years go by, The scene that makes thy childhood's sport May wake thy age's sigh: When fast you see around you fall The summer's leafy pride, And mark the river hurrying on Its ne'er returning tide, Then may you feel in pensive mood That life's a summer dream; And man, at last, forgotten falls Aleaf upon the stream. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONG (2) by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI STANZAS IN THE MEMORY OF EDWARD QUILLINAN, ESQ. by MATTHEW ARNOLD A SUMMER DAY by HENRY CHARLES BEECHING ABIDE WITH US by HORATIO (HORATIUS) BONAR TO THE MEMORY OF CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD |