BALLAD
Flow on, thou gentle streamlet,
Along they silver strand,
Waft back the perfumed violet
From memory's Spirit-land.
The zephyr bloweth o'er thee,
As it blew long ago;
Fair scenes arise before me,
And every one I know.
I see the rocky mountain
In fervid glowing June;
Brown cattle by the fountain
At golden hour of noon.
I feel the rapturous glory
Of lovers' roundelay,
Rehearsing the old story,
Repeated every day.
Flow on, thou gentle streamlet,
I see, where now I stand,
Two spirits kiss the violet
In memory's Spirit-land.
Flow on, thou gentle streamlet,
How sweet thy slumberous song,
Discoursing to the violet
Through all the summer long!
The moonbeam shineth on thee,
As it shone long ago;
Bright faces rise before me,
And every one I know.
The skylark's music filleth
With joy the 'trancèd shore,
Th' enchanted warbler trilleth
His love-note as of yore.
O wild and rapturous glory
Of lovers' roundelay,
Rehearsing the old story,
Repeated every day!
Flow on[,] thou gentle streamlet,
I see where now I stand,
Two spirits bear the violet
From memory's Spirit-land.
[This is No. II from Jane Paxton Smieton's Poems & Ballads]
A note at the foot of the poem's first page indicates that a musical setting was published.