Empedocles on Etna

The River

Matthew Arnold


    STILL glides the stream, slow drops the boat
Under the rustling poplars’ shade;
Silent the swans beside us float
None speaks, none heeds—ah, turn thy head.

    Let those arch eyes now softly shine,
That mocking mouth grow sweetly bland:
Ah, let them rest, those eyes, on mine;
On mine let rest that lovely hand.

    My pent-up tears oppress my brain,
My heart is swoln with love unsaid:
Ah, let me weep, and tell my pain,
And on thy shoulder rest my head.

    Before I die, before the soul,
Which now is mine, must re-attain
Immunity from my control,
And wander round the world again:

    Before this teas’d o’erlabour’d heart
For ever leaves its vain employ,
Dead to its deep habitual smart,
And dead to hopes of future joy.


Back    |    Words Home    |    Matthew Arnold Home    |    Site Info.    |    Feedback