To The River
Edgar Allan Poe · 1845
Public domain
From The Complete Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Published before 1850. The text is free of copyright in the United States. This copy is the poem, without the Project Gutenberg header.
Fair river! in thy bright, clear flow
Of crystal, wandering water,
Thou art an emblem of the glow
Of beauty--the unhidden heart--
The playful maziness of art
In old Alberto's daughter;
But when within thy wave she looks--
Which glistens then, and trembles--
Why, then, the prettiest of brooks
Her worshipper resembles;
For in his heart, as in thy stream,
Her image deeply lies--
His heart which trembles at the beam
Of her soul-searching eyes.