Picture Songs.

By George MacDonald

I. A pale green sky is gleaming; The steely stars are few; The moorland pond is steaming A mist of gray and blue. Along the pathway lonely My horse is walking slow; Three living creatures only, He, I, and a home-bound crow! The moon is hardly shaping Her circle in the fog; A dumb stream is escaping Its prison in the bog. But in my heart are ringing Tones of a lofty song; A voice that I know, is singing, And my heart all night must long. II. Over a shining land-- Once such a land I knew-- Over its sea, by a soft wind fanned, The sky is all white and blue. The waves are kissing the shores, Murmuring love and for ever; A boat gleams green, and its timeful oars Flash out of the level river. Oh to be there with thee And the sun, on wet sands, my love! With the shining river, the sparkling sea, And the radiant sky above! III. The autumn winds are sighing Over land and sea; The autumn woods are dying Over hill and lea; And my heart is sighing, dying, Maiden, for thee. The autumn clouds are flying Homeless over me; The nestless birds are crying In the naked tree; And my heart is flying, crying, Maiden, to thee. The autumn sea is crawling Up the chilly shore; The thin-voiced firs are calling Ghostily evermore: Maiden, maiden! I am falling Dead at thy door. IV. The waters are rising and flowing Over the weedy stone-- Over it, over it going: It is never gone. Waves upon waves of weeping Went over the ancient pain; Glad waves go over it leaping-- Still it rises again!