Henry Alford

Malvern Hills

EREWHILE I saw ye faintly through far haze
Spread many miles above the fields of sea;
Now ye rise glorious, and my steps are free
To wander through your valleys’ beaten ways,
And climb above, threading the rocky maze;
And trace this stream alive with shifting light,
With whose successive eddies silver-bright
Not without pleasant sound the moonbeam plays.
My dear, dear bride, two days had made thee mine,
Two days of waxing hope and waning fear,
When under the night-planet’s lavish shine
We stood in joy, and blessed that rillet clear;
Such joy unwarning comes and quickly parts,
But lives deep-rooted in our “heart of hearts.”