Classic Poem

There's a lone, cool nook, where the shade is deep,
And the waves of a river softly run
To the shore where odorous muskrats creep
From dripping roots when the day is done.
Between green rushes and silver reeds,
Where dragon-flies are ever at play,
A winding path to the water leads,
And there a boat lies rocking away—
Rocking, rocking, at rest and asleep
In the lone, cool nook where the shade is deep.

When the day is hot you may lie at rest
In the boat and dream till the sunlight fades,
While the lulling sounds that the ear loves best
Are whispered by waves and the long reed blades;
And a vine with trumpet blossoms of red
Is lightly flung on the branches high
Of a leaning tree—in such a bed,
Forgetting the world, you may idly lie
Rocking, rocking, at rest and asleep,
In the lone, cool nook where the shade is deep.

At night, when the sky is full of stars,
When shadowy birds flit down the shore,
And the water-snake glides to the sandy bars,
You may touch the waves with a noiseless oar
Till you float far out on the shining stream,
Where winds from the corn-land freshly blow,
And there you may gently drift and dream
With stars above you and stars below—
Drifting, drifting, may dream and rest
On the peaceful river's cool, sweet breast.