At The Rhinefalls (Schaffhausen) Poem by Sheehan Patrick Augustine

O stately river winding to the sea,
Deep-bayed and solemn for the centuries,
That gaze upon thee with their dreaming eyes
From shattered keep and empty hostelry;

Here is thy riot of lusty infancy,
Heedless and unrebuked by the wise,
Who cast the dark gray shadow of surmise
Of what a turbid future stores for thee,

Ay, leap and dance and curvet o're these stones,
That dare to thwart thy progress and thy pride;
Stately and slow and solemn shalt thou move,
Thy high song lowered to the dread monotones
Of war's loud clangor, or the rippling tide
Of music breathed from harps of Wine and Love.