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<h2>O Radiant Stream</h2> <div class="poetry"> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> RIVER St. Lawrence, tranquil and fair, Soft in the sunlight, blue as the sky, Crowned with a beauty, tender and rare, And kissed by the breeze that goes hurrying by. Warm dost thou look, and fair as a dream, Speeding so merrily out to the sea, So strong and so gentle—O radiant stream, The smile of the summer is resting on thee! </div> <div class="stanza"> River St. Lawrence, tranquil and fair, Winding thy way for a thousand long miles Past meadow and homestead, past rocks grim and bare, With a song for the shore, a kiss for the isles Lovingly cradled on thy broad breast— Isles without number, and fair as can be, O, sweet, shining river—bonniest, best— The smile of the summer is resting on thee! River St. Lawrence, tranquil and fair, Lightly bearing the great ships along— Boats with their white sails spread out in the air—{181} The broad rafts of timber, so clumsy and strong— The slender canoe, as swift as a bird, The Indian builds with bark from a tree— Thou bearest them all, unwearied, unstirred— The smile of the summer is resting on thee! </div> <div class="stanza"> River St. Lawrence, tranquil and fair, Pure are thy waters that bask in the light; Thy ripples of laughter ring sweet on the air— The rocks bend to listen by day and by night. The turbulent streams rushing down from the hills To mingle and race with thee out to the sea, Steal not from thy azure—O, beauty that thrills, The smile of the summer is resting on thee! </div> <div class="stanza"> River St. Lawrence, tranquil and fair, Onward thou speedest, so deep and so wide; The sunbeams that lurk on thy bosom, see there A tremulous tumult of love, and of pride— Of love and of pride for the place of thy birth— Thy far-away mother—the fresh-water sea— From whence thou didst spring forth to gladden God’s earth— The smile of the summer is resting on thee!{182} </div> <div class="stanza"> River St. Lawrence, tranquil and fair, Soft in the sunlight, blue as the sky, Crowned with a beauty tender and rare, And kissed by each breeze that goes hurrying by; Warm dost thou look, and fair as a dream, Speeding so merrily out to the sea, So mighty, so gentle—O, radiant stream, The smile of the summer is resting on thee! </div> </div></div> <ANTIMG src="images/deco.png" width-obs="25" alt="[Decorative image unavailable.]" /> {183} <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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