American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1856-03-15
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From the Independent.
THE DARK RIVER.
ny MRS. ELIZABETH II. J. CLEVELAND.

ny MRS. ELIZABETH II. J. CLEVELAND.
written on tho recent and sudden deaths o
three persons in the town of Egremont, Mass.
a child of eight, saint of eighty, and physi
clan thirty-two years Of age. 20
Wherever we be,
On the land or tho sea, .. . "
river is rolling restlessIy;
Itfarrows the plain,
And it sweeps the main,
Then flows to the mountain, back again.
And dark as night
Is the whitening blight
That follows its track on lan and right,
For thousands dowb to its borders stray.
And thousands are taking their weary way
Whose feet will slide
BY the rivers side, --...
And carry them down for ave.
And If on its bosom once they sail,
Mono ever return to tell the talo
OF the opening grave,
Far under the wave, .t ....
Tqpt swallowed their bark so frail.
Full Oft we hear
OF this river drear;
1t is rolling far and it's rolling near;
In the distant land by the Crmean sea,
1t hath swayed its waters heavily;
Nor Gains it's tide as it westward comes
To take its course through our quiet homes.
We see ii not in it's onward way,
And yet on its banks we careless stray;
We look on the landscape bright and fair,
Nor think of the river running there.
BY its gloomy shore we rise and rcst,
For mis-; hangs over the rivers breast;
We love and hope, and we fond!y dream,
Close, ever close, to the swelling stream,
And not till wo miss from our hearth and homo
One who has just in its wave gone down
Not till we call, but call in vain, ...
Wishing the wand erer back agaia--
Does the shadowy mist from Tho stream arise,
And show Us where the dark river lies.
And thus has il opened to CIR view,
Just where u has ever been gliding through;
We can hear it now, as it gurgles by,
We can see who are going down to die,
For the stream is sounding it's sullen roar,
And it runneth swift by our cottage door.
And far on its waters, cold and dim,
child is ssinking--we mourn for him;
We can SEQ the light on his wavy hair,
And his pale young brow, as he's floating thore
Floating alone;
And now he's gone.
But yet in the wave where tho boy went down,
Another one stands,
With her aged hands,
thinking herself the circling bands
That would hinder her way o'or the hoaying track
And still to the shore would hold her back;
They are loosened now, and she fearless goes
Far ont where the little one sunk and rose;
But her limbs are faint and are growing chill,
She cannot battle the flood at will,
For sourscore years are upon the brow
OF her who is crossing the river now.
" The tide is swift, and it runneth high"
She says as she marks it with her eye.
" And the way is dark but / sec the CLEAN.
OF the fields that lie beyond the stream,
Aad fear it not--I come, come;
The river is deep but twill C; mo home."
And sec ! as the waters riso and sink,
strong man comes to the rivers brink,
Nor heedeth the loving arms on shore,
That are clinging fast-they can cling no mo 70,
For the stream s washing his wavering feet,
And its cold embrace ha must yielding meet,
For il lifts him up in its arms so wide,
And hurries him over the dark some tide.
Nor back TO shore will they come again;
We shall watch tho waters all in vain
For the child that left us so young and fair,
For the aged saint with her silver hair,
Or the stalwart man in his power and pride,
Who helpless sank by the river side.
And the mist will gather around the stream,
Again on its banks will we sit and dream,
And needless be, as we wero before,
Though close as then TO tho dangerous shore;
For wherever We be,
On the land or sea,
A river is rolling restlessly,
That draws to its bosom tho great and small
1t has gathered somc--it will gather all,
Then bury itself in the unknown sea,
In the meaeuroless depths Of eternity,
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