Page:A Treasury of South African Poetry.djvu/49

 THE HARMONIES OF WATERS.

, sing, ye mellow streams and laughing brooks!

Sound every fountain and glad waterfall!

Through sylvan shades and dells,

Go singing to the sea!

More fair are ye, Nature's sweet bards, more fair

Than airy thought or fairy dream can be,

Whose beauties do not last,

But gleam and fade away!

Companions of immortal bards that sing,

More true are ye, more true in heart and voice

Than many glories be,

That bid the soul rejoice!

An open charm is yours—a subtle power:

The charm of beauty and the power of song,

To wile the pleasant hour

For many a weary mind!

Ye that have common beauty with the heavens,

With each bright star of heav'n and flow'r of earth,

And with the forests bare,

And waving mountain pines!