Classic Poem

R IV'LET of the narrow valley,
Far on ev'ry side resounds
The dashing of thy roaring waters,
Now confin'd within their bounds.

Here, ev'n now, with strong sensations
I survey thy rapid flood,
Flowing in foaming waves beneath me,
Half concealed by the wood.

But when autumn's gather'd tempests
Burst on those surrounding hills,
And the swift descending torrent
Soon thy rocky channel fills —

When, its narrow bounds disdaining,
Pent within its banks no more,
Thy stream with sudden fury rushing
Sweeps its woody margin o'er —

With what mingled joy and terror
Would I mark thy rapid course,
O'er yon crags in vain opposing,
Bounding with resistless force.

Riv'let of the narrow valley!
Swiftly rolls thy stream away;
Here though every charm surrounds thee,
Here, thou must not, canst not stay.

Go, and along yon verdant meadows
With a gentler current glide;
Then must, sweet stream, thy lucid waters
Swell a nobler river's pride.