A HILLSIDE SPRING
I know a tiny hillside spring,
Hidden among the grasses;
Its water is the sweetest thing
That mortal lips e'er passes.
Hidden among the grasses;
Its water is the sweetest thing
That mortal lips e'er passes.
And when the woods are all astir
With life-sap freshly flowing;
And you may feel Spring's harbinger
In every soft wind blowing;
With life-sap freshly flowing;
And you may feel Spring's harbinger
In every soft wind blowing;
It wakens in a daintier bed
Than Adonais lay in;
Blue violets around it spread
Young ferns for it to stray in.
Than Adonais lay in;
Blue violets around it spread
Young ferns for it to stray in.
Among the tangled mat of green
In the lush wealth of summer,
Close bending down, my spring I've seen,
And heard its happy murmur.
In the lush wealth of summer,
Close bending down, my spring I've seen,
And heard its happy murmur.
When falls the dreamy Autumn haze
Thro' which the wood's bright glory
Glows like a mighty altar's blaze
In some old Eastern story,—
Thro' which the wood's bright glory
Glows like a mighty altar's blaze
In some old Eastern story,—
I've heard its crooning voice beneath
The "woodland gold's" wild flutter,
As tho' it knew of sleep and death,
Sweet things it could not utter.
The "woodland gold's" wild flutter,
As tho' it knew of sleep and death,
Sweet things it could not utter.
Hearts like my spring sometimes we find
In this mixed world of ours;
To dazzling ambitions blind,
Seeking life's humble flowers,
In this mixed world of ours;
To dazzling ambitions blind,
Seeking life's humble flowers,
Traced by the blessings that they bring
Where'er their footstep passes;
As I have found my hillside spring
Betrayed by greener grasses.
Where'er their footstep passes;
As I have found my hillside spring
Betrayed by greener grasses.