The bridge song

The bridge song

Author: Lindsay, M., Miss

Year: 1885

[i] I stood on the bridge at midnight, / As the clocks were striking the hour: / And the moon rose o’er [over] the city, / Behind the dark church tower. / And like the waters rushing / Among, the wooden piers / A flood of thoughts came o’er me That filled my eyes with tears / How often, oh how often, in the days that had gone by, / I had stood on that bridge at midnight, / And gazed on that wave and sky! / How often, oh! How often, I had wished that the robbing tide / Would bear me away on its bosom / O’er the ocean wide. [ii] For my heart was hot and restless / And my life was full of care / And the burden then laid upon me, Seeme’d greater than I could bear. / But now it has fallen from me. / It is buried in the sea / And only the sorrow of others / Throws its shadow over me. / Yet when ever I cross the river, / On its bridge with wooden piers, / Like the odour of brine from the ocean / Comes the thought of other years / And forever, and forever, as long as the river flows, / As long as the heart has passions, / As long as life has woes / The morn and its broken reflection / And in shadows shall appear / As the symbol of love in Heaven / And its wavering image here.