Sweet Earlsburn, Blithe Earlsburn. William Motherwell (1797-1835). Earlsburn, the River. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. 1876-79. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes. Scotland: Vols. VI-VIII

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Scotland: Vols. VI–VIII. 1876–79.

Earlsburn, the River

Sweet Earlsburn, Blithe Earlsburn

William Motherwell (1797–1835)


SWEET Earlsburn, blithe Earlsburn,
Mine own, my native stream,
My heart grows young again, while thus
On thy green banks I dream.
Yes, dream! in sooth I can no more,	5
For as thy murmurs roll,
They wake the ancient melodies
That stirred my infant soul.

I ’ve told thee, one by one, the thoughts;
Strange shapeless forms were they,	10
That hung around me fearfully
In childhood’s dreamy day;
And still thy mystic music spake
Dimly articulate,
Yielding meet answer to the dreams	15
That shadowed forth my fate.

I ’ve wept by thee a sorrowing child;
I ’ve sported, mad with glee,
And still thou wert the only one
That seemed to care for me;	20
For in whatever mood I came
To wander by thy brim,
Thy murmurs were most musical,
Soul-soothing as a hymn.

I ’ve wandered far in other lands,	25
And mixed with stranger men,
But still my heart untravelled sought
Repose within thy glen.
The pictures of my memory
Were fresh as they were limned,	30
Nor change of scene nor lapse of years
Their lustre ever dimmed.