| William Wilfred Campbell, comp. The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse. 1913. | | | Songs of the Sea Children
XLIX. ‘I was a reed in the stilly stream’ | | By Bliss Carman (1861–1929) |
| | | I WAS a reed in the stilly stream, | |
| Heigh-ho! | |
| And thou my fellow of moveless dream, | |
| Heigh-ho! | |
| |
| Hardly a word the river said, | 5 |
| As there we bowed him a listless head. | |
| |
| Only the yellowbird pierced the noon; | |
| And summer died to a drowsier swoon, | |
| |
| Till the little wind of night came by, | |
| With the little stars in the lonely sky, | 10 |
| |
| And the little leaves that only stir, | |
| When shyest wood-fellows confer. | |
| |
| It shook the stars in their purple sphere, | |
| And laid a frost on the lips of fear. | |
| |
| It woke our slumbering desire, | 15 |
| As a breath that blows a mellow fire, | |
| |
| And the thrill that made the forest start, | |
| Was a little sigh from our happy heart. | |
| |
| This is the story of the world, | |
| Heigh-ho! | 20 |
| This is the glory of the world, | |
| Heigh-ho! | | | | |
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