James Dixon (1814–1873)

WANDERING ’mid flowery banks, or loud and hoarse

Foaming o’er rock and crag, all wild and free,

From the deep woods that hide thy shaded source,

To where thy waters mingle with the sea,

Beautiful River! like a dream of love

Thy deep waves glide—blue as the sky above.

Bright are the happy homes along thy shores,

Shaded by drooping elms that kiss thy wave;

And grassy banks, that bloom with gay wild-flowers,

Thy calm and murmuring waters gently lave;

And warbling birds, with music sweet as thine,

Sing in the branches of the o’erhanging vine

A song whose notes are with us evermore,

Stealing our hearts away to wander by thy shore.