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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.

Linn (Lyn), the River

Waters-Meet

By Henry Alford (1810–1871)

(Recollection of Homer)

EVEN thus, methinks, in some Ionian isle,

Yielding his soul to unrecorded joy,

Beside a fall like this, lingered awhile

On briery banks that wondrous minstrel-boy;

Long hours there came upon his vacant ear

The rushing of the river, till strange dreams

Fell on him, and his youthful spirit clear

Was dwelt on by the power of voiceful streams.

Thenceforth begun to grow upon his soul

The sound and force of waters; and he fed

His joy at many an ancient river’s head,

And echoing caves, and thunder, and the roll

Of the wakeful ocean,—till the day when he

Poured forth that stream divine of mighty melody.