GO! trace th' unnumbered streams, o'er earth <br />That wind their devious course, <br />That draw from Alpine heights their birth, <br />Deep vale, or cavern source. <br /> <br />Some by majestic cities glide, <br />Proud scenes of man's renown, <br />Some lead their solitary tide, <br />Where pathless forests frown. <br /> <br />Some calmly roll in golden sands, <br />Where Afric's deserts lie; <br />Or spread, to clothe rejoicing lands <br />With rich fertility. <br /> <br />These bear the bark, whose stately sail <br />Exulting seems to swell; <br />While these, scarce rippled by a gale, <br />Sleep in the lonely dell. <br /> <br />Yet on, alike, though swift or slow <br />Their various waves may sweep, <br />Through cities or through shades they flow <br />To the same boundless deep. <br /> <br />Oh! thus, whate'er our path of life, <br />Through sunshine or through gloom, <br />Through scenes of quiet or of strife, <br />Its end is still the tomb. <br /> <br />The chief, whose mighty deeds we hail, <br />The monarch throned on high, <br />The peasant in his native vale, <br />All journey on–to die! <br /> <br />But if Thy guardian care, my God! <br />The pilgrim's course attend, <br />I will not fear the dark abode, <br />To which my footsteps bend. <br /> <br />For thence thine all-redeeming Son, <br />Who died, the world to save, <br />In light, in triumph, rose, and won <br />The victory from the grave!<br /><br />Felicia Dorothea Hemans<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-rivers-2/
