Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.

Grisedale

Grisedale Beck

By James Payn (1830–1898)

MY gentle stream, with constant smile and bright,

I miss thy loving looks and winding ways,

Thy murmurous accents glad of yesternight,

Sweet as from earnest lips the words of praise;

Where art thou, friend? I hear the impetuous noise

Of hurried passion, the unmeaning roar

Of some wild torrent: it is not thy voice!

Nor doth thy wave respect its wonted shore,

But arrowy-straight in frantic fury springs.

I grieve that I e’er knew thee: happy heart

And noble, that with either moods hath part:

Mine hath not; but with timid love it clings

Conscious of weakness: and it doth so lean

To some boy-friends grown hard and headstrong men.