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The River

By Matthew Arnold

Topics: classic

Still glides the stream, slow drops the boat     Under the rustling poplars shade;     Silent the swans beside us float     None speaks, none heeds ah, turn thy head.     Let those arch eyes now softly shine,     That mocking mouth grow sweetly bland:     Ah, let them rest, those eyes, on mine;     On mine let rest that lovely hand.     My pent-up tears oppress my brain,     My heart is swoln with love unsaid:     Ah, let me weep, and tell my pain,     And on thy shoulder rest my head.     Before I die, before the soul,     Which now is mine, must re-attain     Immunity from my control,     And wander round the world again:     Before this teasd oerlabourd heart     For ever leaves its vain employ,     Dead to its deep habitual smart,     And dead to hopes of future joy.

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"Still glides the stream, slow drops the boat..."

"The River" is a quintessential example of Matthew Arnold's signature style... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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Author:Matthew Arnold

"Still glides the stream, slow drops the boat..." by Matthew Arnold

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Matthew Arnold

About Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) was an English poet and critic whose poems "Dover Beach" and "The Scholar Gipsy" explore Victorian doubt and the search for meaning. His critical work "Culture and Anarchy" (1869) remains influential in literary and cultural studies.

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"Down the Savoy valleys sounding,     Echoing round..."

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