Swift rolling river, stay;
What mighty speed is thine!
Why dost thou on thy downward course
So quickly haste away,
With ocean's briny waves
Thy lucid stream to join?

This flow'ry valley's side
When once thou hast forsook,
And thy transparent water's lost
In the devouring tide,
Thou never canst return
On this sweet spot to look.

Such was the poet's song;
But, heedless of the strain,
Impatient o'er its rocky bed,
The river rush'd along,
With still increasing speed,
To mingle with the main.

In that swift river's force
Canst thou no emblem find?
Fond man, 't is thus thy youthful years
Fly with quick circling course;
They bear thy joys away,
And leave thee griefs behind.