From The Spanish Of Pedro De Castro Y Anaya

William Cullen Bryant 1794 (Cummington) – 1878 (New York City)



Stay, rivulet, nor haste to leave
The lovely vale that lies around thee.
Why wouldst thou be a sea at eve,
When but a fount the morning found thee?

Born when the skies began to glow,
Humblest of all the rock's cold daughters,
No blossom bowed its stalk to show
Where stole thy still and scanty waters.

Now on thy stream the noonbeams look,
Usurping, as thou downward driftest,
Its crystal from the clearest brook,
Its rushing current from the swiftest.

Ah! what wild haste!--and all to be
A river and expire in ocean.
Each fountain's tribute hurries thee
To that vast grave with quicker motion.

Far better 'twere to linger still
In this green vale, these flowers to cherish,
And die in peace, an aged rill,
Than thus, a youthful Danube, perish.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

41 sec read
124

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF BGBG HIHI
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 733
Words 136
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

William Cullen Bryant

William Cullen Bryant was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post. more…

All William Cullen Bryant poems | William Cullen Bryant Books

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