"The Old Water Mill" (1840)
A Ballad.
Words by Eliza Cook
Composed and Dedicated to
Mrs. Henry John Sharp,
by Henry Russell, 1812-1900

[Source: 124/049@Levy]

1.
And is this old mill-stream that ten years ago
Was so fast in its current, so pure in its flow;
Whose musical waters would ripple and shine
With the glory and dash of a miniature Rhine?
Can this be its bed! I remember it well
When it sparkled like silver through meadow and dell;
And is this the old mill-stream that ten years ago
Was so fast in its current, so pure in its flow.

2.
And here was the miller's house, peacefull abode!
Where the flower-twisted porch drew all eyes from the road;
Where the roses and jasmine embower's a door
That never was closed to the wayworn or poor,
Where the miller, God bless him! oft gave us "a dance,"
And led off the ball with his soul in his glance;
And is this the old mill-stream that ten years ago
Was so fast in its current, so pure in its flow;

3.
The mill is in ruins, -- No welcoming sound
In the mastiff's quick bark and the wheels dashing round;
The house, too, forgotten -- left to decay --
And the miller, long dead; all I loved pass'd away!
This play-place of childhood was graved on my heart,
In rare Paradise colours that now must depart;
The old water-mill's gone, the fair vision is fled,
And I weep o'er its wreck as I do for the dead.