Poems : patriotic, religious, miscellaneous / by Abram J. Ryan [electronic text]
About this Item
Title
Poems : patriotic, religious, miscellaneous / by Abram J. Ryan [electronic text]
Author
Ryan, Abram Joseph, 1836-1886
Publication
Baltimore, Md.: John B. Piet & Co.
1884
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"Poems : patriotic, religious, miscellaneous / by Abram J. Ryan [electronic text]." In the digital collection American Verse Project. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/BAD9548.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 1, 2024.
Pages
SONG OF THE RIVER.
A river went singing, adown to the sea,A-singing — low — singing —And the dim rippling river said softly to me,"I'm bringing, a-bringing —While floating along —A beautiful songTo the shores that are white where the waves are so weary,To the beach that is burdened with wrecks that are dreary.A song sweet and calmAs the peacefulest psalm;
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And the shore that was sadWill be grateful and glad,And the weariest wave from its dreariest dreamWill wake to the sound of the song of the stream:And the tempests shall ceaseAnd there shall be peace."From the fairest of fountains,And farthest of mountains,From the stillness of snowCame the stream in its flow.
Down the slopes where the rocks are gray,Thro' the vales where the flowers are fair —Where the sunlight flashed — where the shadows layLike stories that cloud a face of care,The river ran on — and on — and on —Day and night, and night and day;Going and going, and never gone,Longing to flow to the "far away,"Staying and staying, and never still;Going and staying, as if one willSaid, "Beautiful river, go to the sea,"And another will whispered, "Stay with me:"And the river made answer, soft and low —"I go and stay" — "I stay and go."
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But what is the song, I said, at last?To the passing river that never passed;And a white, white wave whispered, "List to me,I'm a note in the song for the beautiful sea, A song whose grand accents no earth-din may sever,And the river flows on in the same mystic keyThat blends in one chord the 'forever and never.'"
December 15th, 1878
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