With a Vision of the Valley of Elah

I must look back no more! The world is round,
And all is on its way;
The past is veiled; a soft repose
Lies silent on the day!
The afternoon is clear and bright —
The sun a golden globe,
A thousand twinkling rivers run
In this immortal robe.

I seek the valleys rich and green, The valleys where I dwell;
Where slumbers gently the blue sea
Upon a silver shell!

O for the azure over me,
Draped in celestial blue!
Chained to my thoughts no longer,
O vivid sanguine hue!

But the sands of time are slipping;
Cherish once again
The vision of the valley
That trembles in the rain!

• William Hazlitt