O all the little rivers that run to Hudson’s Bay,
They call me and call me to follow them away.
Missinaibi, Abitibi, Little Current–where they run
Dancing and sparkling I see them in the sun.
I hear the brawling rapid, the thunder of the fall,
And when I think upon them I cannot stay at all.
At the far end of the carry, where the wilderness begins,
Set me down with my canoe-load–and forgiveness of my sins.
O all the mighty rivers beneath the Polar Star,
They call me and call me to follow them afar.
Peace and Athabasca and Coppermine and Slave,
And Yukon and Mackenzie–the highroads of the brave.
Saskatchewan, Assiniboine, the Bow and the Qu’Appelle,
And many a prairie river whose name is like a spell.
They rumor through the twilight at the edge of the unknown,
“There’s a message waiting for you, and a kingdom all your own.
“The wilderness shall feed you, her gleam shall be your guide.
Come out from desolations, our path of hope is wide.”
O all the headlong rivers that hurry to the West,
They call me and lure me with the joy of their unrest.
Columbia and Fraser and Bear and Kootenay,
I love their fearless reaches where winds untarnished play–
The rush of glacial water across the pebbly bar
To polished pools of azure where the hidden boulders are.
Just there, with heaven smiling, any morning I would be,
Where all the silver rivers go racing to the sea.
O well remembered rivers that sing of long ago,
Ajourneying through summer or dreaming under snow.
Among their meadow islands through placid days they glide,
And where the peaceful orchards are diked against the tide.
Tobique and Madawaska and shining Gaspereaux,
St. Croix and Nashwaak and St. John whose haunts I used to know.
And all the pleasant rivers that seek the Fundy foam,
They call me and call me to follow them home.
(Bliss Carman)
More Poetry from Bliss Carman:
Bliss Carman Poems based on Topics: Home, Joy & Excitement, Morning, Snow, War & Peace, Name, Silver, Courage, Sin, Hope, Slavery- White Nassau (Bliss Carman Poem)
- Why (Bliss Carman Poem)
- The Ships of Saint John (Bliss Carman Poem)
- The Ships of Yule (Bliss Carman Poem)
- The Vagabonds (Bliss Carman Poem)
- The Winter Scene (Bliss Carman Poem)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: War & Peace Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Name Poems, Hope Poems, Home Poems, Smiling Poems, Morning Poems, Sin Poems, Snow Poems, Courage Poems, Silver PoemsBased on Keywords: dancing, peaceful, hudson, bar, azure, sparkling, glide, carry, haunts, meadow, hurry
- The Vision Of Piers Plowman - Part 14 (William Langland Poems)
- Trivia ; or, the Art of Walking the Streets of London : Book III (John Gay Poems)
- Hermann And Dorothea - IX. Urania (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poems)
- Christ's Triumph after Death : Canto IV. Christ's Victory and Triumph (Giles Fletcher Jr Poems)
- Childhood (Henry Kirke White Poems)