Stanzas

Stanzas

Ye banks, ye vallies, and ye groves,
Ye streams that murmur near the spot,
When sweetly fled my youthful days,
Ye never sure shall be forgot.

Though far from you, by fortune tost
Around this changing world of sorrow,
The thought of scenes long past and gone,
Shall gild with bliss each future morrow.

For there's a charm that soothes the mind,
Oh! 'tis the heart's own dearest treasure,
It is the hour when we live o'er
The joys of youth replete with pleasure.

When all our dreams were golden ones,
Our bosoms throbb'd with sweet emotion;
Yes, when we lov'd, sincerely lov'd,
With fondest, truest, pure devotion.

Oh! is there not supreme delight,
In ruminating on those hours,
When time itself was loveliness,
And angels sung within our bowers.

But far have flown those heavenly times,
The magic moments, they have gone,
Yet still 'tis pleasing to the soul,
On these lov'd scenes to dwell upon.

Arion

1:32, p. 128

1827.10.19