Fleeting shades of airy castles
Built of fancies, frail and fair.
Castles ruined now and haunted,
Creeping shadows every where.
Built of fancies, frail and fair.
Castles ruined now and haunted,
Creeping shadows every where.
Silence reigns throughout the valley,
Noiseless turns the busy mill;
Teams climb up the winding roadway
Without hoof beats, all is still.
Noiseless turns the busy mill;
Teams climb up the winding roadway
Without hoof beats, all is still.
There's a tiny toddler playing
Round the gristmill's open door,
There are merry children wading,
Picking berries from the shore;
Round the gristmill's open door,
There are merry children wading,
Picking berries from the shore;
Where the bushes dip the tail-race
With their load so ripe and black.
Flocks of duck before them scurry
With no sound of splash or quack.
With their load so ripe and black.
Flocks of duck before them scurry
With no sound of splash or quack.
Phantoms moving mid the shadows,
Running to the barn to swing,
Playing up and down the race path,
Bringing water from the spring.
Running to the barn to swing,
Playing up and down the race path,
Bringing water from the spring.
Do you see them, ruined castles,
Creeping shadows, phantoms fair
Roaming ever through the valley?
They are there—they all are there.
Creeping shadows, phantoms fair
Roaming ever through the valley?
They are there—they all are there.
Nay—nay tis a lovely valley,
Where the rarest mosses grow.
All is peace and all is beauty,
Where the wild birds hover low.
Where the rarest mosses grow.
All is peace and all is beauty,
Where the wild birds hover low.
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