THE VALLEY OF UNREST

Once it smiled a silent dell

Where the people did not dwell;

In the midst of which all day

The red sun-light lazily lay.

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They had gone unto the wars,

Trusting to the mild-eyed stars,

Nightly, from their azure towers, —-

To keep watch above the flowers,

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The sad valley's restlessness.

Nothing there is motionless --

Nothing saves the airs that brood

Over magic solitude.

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Ah, by no wind are stirred those trees

That palpitate like the chill seas

Ah, by no wind those clouds are driven

That rustle through the unquiet Heaven

Uneasily, from morn till even,

Around the misty Hebrides!

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Over the violets there that lie

Over the violets there that lie

In myriad types of human eye

In myriad types of human eye

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The sad valley's restlessness.

Nothing there is motionless --

​

Nothing saves the airs that brood

Over magic solitude.

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Over the lilies there that wave

And weep above a nameless grave!

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They wave: -- from out their fragrant tops

Eternal dews come down in drops.

They weep: -- from off their delicate stems

Perennial tears descend in gems.

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The sad valley's restlessness.

Nothing there is motionless --

Nothing saves the airs that brood

Over magic solitude