Muse and Mint

Chapter 7: THE RILLY RIVER

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About This Book

A varied collection of short lyrical poems that observes nature and rural life, using seasonal imagery—sap, snow, rivers, cherries—and simple domestic scenes to reflect on change, beauty, and small joys. Sections shift between fireside recollections, sentimental and philosophical meditations, homiletic and religious pieces, and light humor, blending devotional songlike verses with moral aphorisms and affectionate memory. The voice moves between wistful and buoyant moods, finding consolation and ethical insight in commonplace experiences, while concise stanzas and vivid images emphasize mood and moral reflection rather than a continuous narrative.

THE RILLY RIVER

The cold and turbid flood of Spring

Has melted to the Summer shallow,

And now the vivid greeneries cling

Along the margin lush and fallow,

And where were sombre deeps and chills

Are silver trills of rippling rills.

The loiterer upon the bridge

Which o’er the eddying river poises

Salutes the island’s sandy ridge

That reappears; the eye rejoices

In all the old familiar frills

And saucy spills of rippling rills.

The rod and reel the rapture feel

And from the boat take finny chances,

But less for luck than with the keel

To be a part of runic dances;

For thus the river’s music thrills

Like joy that fills the rippling rills.