C. C. Long

The River

"Oh, tell me, pretty river,

Whence do thy waters flow?

And whither art thou roaming,

So smoothly and so slow?"

"My birthplace was the mountain,

My nurse the April showers;

My cradle was a fountain,

O'er-curtained by wild flowers.

"One morn I ran away,

A madcap, noisy rill;

And many a prank that day

I played adown the hill!

"And then 'mid meadowy banks,

I flirted with the flowers,

That stooped with glowing lips

To woo me to their bowers.

"But these bright scenes are o'er,

And darkly flows my wave;

I hear the ocean's roar—

And there must be my grave!"

Where have you seen a river like the one spoken of in the poem? Are rivers born? What is meant by "My nurse the April showers"? "I flirted with the flowers"? Explain the last stanza.