The silent river, with majestic sweep,

Pursues his shadowed way,—his glassy face

Unbroken, save when stoops the lone wild swan

To float in pride, or dip his ruffled wing.

Talk ye of solitude? It is not here.

Nor silence. Low, deep murmurs are abroad.

Those towering hills hold converse with the sky

That smiles upon their summits; and the wind

Which stirs their wooded sides whispers of life,

And bears the burden sweet from leaf to leaf,