80 THE RIVER-SIDE. 



Observe the streams and see them silent go 

 See on the banks a thousand beauties grow, 

 Which the Creator did, in mighty love bestow 

 On man. 



I'll shew you all the pleasures of the stream 

 Under that shady Oak " there we'll repose." 



OLD POEM. 



THERE is a freshness, a repose, an indescribable 

 enjoyment of solitude on the banks of a clear and 

 placid river, which a lover of nature can alone 

 sufficiently appreciate. The air is so pure on a 

 fine morning in the spring, her breath so sweet 

 as it passes through the snowy hawthorn bushes, 

 the sloping hills are so varied with trees and 

 flowers, and the meadows so fresh and gay, that 

 cold must that heart be, and insensible to the 

 charms of river- scenery, that does not enjoy such 

 a spot, and look around him with delight. Those 

 who have wandered on the banks of my favourite 

 Avon, as it flows through the borders of the New 

 Forest, and seen its clear and sparkling waters 

 passing over the long and yielding rushes, which 

 sometimes shew themselves above the surface, 

 and then gently hide themselves as some dragon- 

 fly settles upon them those that have watched 

 the graceful bendings of the stream, sometimes 



