THE OLD WATER-MILL
And is this the old mill-stream that ten years ago
Was so fast in its current, so pure in its flow;
Whose musical waters would ripple and shine
With the glory and dash of a miniature Rhine?
Was so fast in its current, so pure in its flow;
Whose musical waters would ripple and shine
With the glory and dash of a miniature Rhine?
Can this be its bed? I remember it well
When it sparkled like silver through meadow and dell;
When the pet-lamb reposed on its emerald side,
And the minnow and perch darted swift through its tide.
When it sparkled like silver through meadow and dell;
When the pet-lamb reposed on its emerald side,
And the minnow and perch darted swift through its tide.
Yes! here was the miller's house, peaceful abode!
Where the flower-twined porch drew all eyes from the road;
Where roses and jasmine embower'd a door
That never was closed to the wayworn or poor:
Where the flower-twined porch drew all eyes from the road;
Where roses and jasmine embower'd a door
That never was closed to the wayworn or poor:
Where the miller, God bless him! oft gave us "a dance,"
And led off the ball with his soul in his glance;
Who, forgetting grey hairs, was as loud in his mirth
As the veriest youngsters that circled his hearth.
And led off the ball with his soul in his glance;
Who, forgetting grey hairs, was as loud in his mirth
As the veriest youngsters that circled his hearth.
Blind Ralph was the only musician we had,
But his tunes—oh, such tunes!—would make any heart glad:
"The Roast Beef of Old England," and "Green grow the Rushes,"
Woke our eyes' brightest beams, and our cheeks' warmest flushes.
But his tunes—oh, such tunes!—would make any heart glad:
"The Roast Beef of Old England," and "Green grow the Rushes,"
Woke our eyes' brightest beams, and our cheeks' warmest flushes.
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