BORDERLAND

AND have you been to Borderland?

Its country lies on either hand

Beyond the river I-forget.

One crosses by a single stone

So narrow one must pass alone,

And all about its waters fret—

The laughing river I-forget.

Beneath the trees of Borderland

One seems to know and understand,

Beside the river I-forget,

All languages of men and birds;

And all the sweet, unspoken words

One ever missed are murmured yet

By that sweet river I-forget.

One hears there many things afar

From cities where strange peoples are,

Beyond the river I-forget;

And stranger things are in the air,

But what they are one does not care,

For Hope lies sleeping and Regret

Beside the river I-forget.

Some day together hand in hand

I’ll take you there to Borderland,

Beyond the river I-forget;

Some day when all our dreams come true,

One kiss for me and one for you,

We’ll watch the red sun sink and set

Across the river I-forget.

Herman Knickerbocker Vielé.