River Rhymes

1.

We have poled our staunch canoe
Many a boiling torrent through;
Paddling where the eddies drew,
Athwart the roaring flood we flew.

Chorus
Dip your paddles! make them leap,
Where the clear cold waters sweep.
Dip your paddles! steady keep,
Where breaks the rapid down the steep.

2.

Where the wind, like censer, flings
Smoke-spray wider as it swings,
Hark! the aisle of rainbow rings
To falls that hymn the King of kings.

3.

Lifting there our vessel tight,
Climbed we bank and rocky height,
Bore her through thick woods, where light
Fell dappling those green haunts of Night.

4.

O'er the rush of billows hurled,
Where they tossed and leaped and curled,
Past each wave-worn boulder whirled,
How fast we sailed, no sail unfurled!

5.

Laughs from parted lips and teeth
Hailed the quiet reach beneath,
Damascened in ferny sheath,
And girt with pine and maple wreath.

6.

Oh, the lovely river there
Made all Nature yet more fair;
Wooded hills and azure air
Kissed, quivering, in the stream they share.

7.

Plunged the salmon, waging feud
'Gainst the jewelled insect-brood;
From aerial solitude
An eagle's shadow crossed the wood.

8.

Flapped the heron, and the grey
Halcyon talked from cedar's spray,
Drummed the partridge far away;--
Ah! could we choose to live as they!

John Campbell

No biography available

John Campbell

The Hard Strait Of The Feinne

John Campbell, Simple Poetry

Tobermory Bay. 1588.

John Campbell, Simple Poetry

The Isles Of Huron

John Campbell, Simple Poetry

Colhorn.

John Campbell, Simple Poetry

English

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The Forest River.

Amid the forest verdant shade,
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For a summer festival at The Laurels on the Merrimac.


Once more on yonder laurelled height
The summer flowers have budded;
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Of every good the Giver,
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O sun, shine hot on the river;
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Floating Down The River.

My little bark glides steadily along,
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Sweet, sweet is Life, and every sound is song;
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Bright shines the sun athwart the linden-trees;
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Pure lie the broad-leaved lilies ...

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Minnetonka[BY]

I sit once more on breezy shore, at sunset in this glorious June,
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Beneath my feet the waters beat, and ripple on the polished stones,
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The pink and gold in blooming wold, the green hills mirrored in the lake!
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Blithe and merry and sweet
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I hear before I awaken
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