Helford River (From Wayside Pictures, Hymns and Poems, 1874)
I saw it in its clearness,
The pleasure of the place,
When May in buds and blossoms
Was mirrored on its face.
The blue-bells edged its margin
In many a fragrant rank,
And Trebah, like a temple,
Was shining on its bank.
O lovely in its brightness,
When Summer woos the wave,
And Morning, like a seraph,
Doth in the waters lave,
And cuckoo’s voice of welcome
Is o’er the billows borne,
And wood-dove trills his sonnets
Of music on the thorn!
I thank thee for the beauty
Thy creeks did so disclose,
While overhead the skylark
Was singing as he rose;
The violets tell their story
To woo the gentle air,
And sail and soaring sea-bird
Proclaim thee very fair.
