The Maiden by the Stream

The maiden in the flowing stream
Dry hemp doth lay;
Her tears are falling in the stream
From those blue eyes so bright, that beam
The live-long day.

"Say maiden! what disturbs thy peace
The livelong day?"
"Deep wounds have stabb'd my spirit's peace,
And nought shall bid its misery cease
But life's decay."

"And didst thou see a horrid dream
With pale affright?"
"O no! it was no frightful dream—
It was a shadow on the stream,
But not of night.

"It wore a wreath upon its head,
And took its flight;
Borne on the rapid stream it fled
With the green wreath upon its head—
My hopes to spite."

The maiden in the flowing stream,
Dry hemp doth lay;
Her tears are falling in the stream,
Her blue eyes paled with life's last gleam
That flits away.