GREEN RIVER.

BY W. C. BRYANT.

WHEN breezes are soft and skies are fair, I steal an hour from study and care, And hie me away to the woodland scene, Where wanders the stream with waters of green; As if the bright fringe of herbs on its brink, Had given their stain to the wave they drink; And they, whose meadows it murmurs through, Have named the stream from its own fair hue.

Yet pure its waters-its shallows are bright
With coloured pebbles and sparkles of light,
And clear the depths where its eddies play,
And dimples deepen and whirl away,

And the plane-tree's speckled arms o'ershoot
The swifter current that mines its root,

Through whose shifting leaves, as you walk the hill,
The quivering glimmer of sun and rill,

With a sudden flash on the eye is thrown,

Like the ray that streams from the diamond stone.

Oh, loveliest there the spring days come,

With blossoms, and birds, and wild bees' hum;

The flowers of summer are fairest there,

And freshest the breath of the summer air;

And sweetest the golden autumn day.
In silence and sunshine glides away.

Yet fair as thou art, thou shunn'st to glide, Beautiful stream! by the village side; But windest away from haunts of men, To quiet valley and shaded glen;

And forest, and meadow, and slope of hill, Around thee are lonely, lovely, and still. Lonely-save when by thy rippling tides, From thicket to thicket the angler glides;

GREEN RIVER.

Or the simpler comes with basket and book,
For herbs of power on thy banks to look;

Or haply, some idle dreamer, like me,

To wander, and muse, and gaze on thee.

Still-save the chirp of birds that feed
On the river cherry and seedy reed,
And thy own wild music gushing out
With mellow murmur and fairy shout,
From dawn, to the blush of another day
Like traveller singing along his way.

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That fairy music I never hear,

Nor gaze on those waters so green and clear,
And mark them winding away from sight,
Darkened with shade or flashing with light,
While o'er them the vine to its thicket clings,
And the zephyr stoops to freshen his wings,
But I wish that fate had left me free

To wander these quiet haunts with thee,
Till the eating cares of earth should depart,
And the peace of the scene pass into my heart;
And I envy thy stream, as it glides along,
Through its beautiful banks in a trance of song.

Though forced to drudge for the dregs of men, And scrawl strange words with the barbarous pen, And mingle among the jostling crowd,

Where the sons of strife are subtle and loud

I often come to this quiet place,

To breathe the airs that ruffle thy face,

And gaze upon thee in silent dream,

For in thy lonely and lovely stream,

An image of that calm life appears,
That won my heart in my greener years.

EXTRACT FROM "GERALDINE."

BY. R. DAWES.

I KNOW a spot where poets fain would dwell,
To gather flowers and food for afterthought,
As bees draw honey from the rose's cell,

To hive among the treasures they have wrought; And there a cottage from a sylvan screen,

Sent up its curling smoke amidst the green.

Around that hermit-home of quietude,

The elm-trees whispered with the summer air,

And nothing ever ventured to intrude,

But happy birds that caroled wildly there, Or honey-laden harvesters that flew Humming away to drink the morning dew.

Around the door the honey-suckle climbed,
And Multa-flora spread her countless roses,
And never minstrel sang nor poet rhymed

Romantic scene where happiness reposes, Sweeter to sense than that enchanting dell, Where home-sick memory fondly loves to dwell.