Down the swift dark stream you go Back to lands you once did know! Leave the halls and caverns deep, Leave the northern mountains steep,
Where the forest wide and dim Stoops in shadow grey and grim! Float beyond the world of trees Out into the whispering breeze,
Past the rushes, past the reeds, Past the marsh's waving weeds, Through the mist that riseth white Up from mere and pool at night!
Follow, follow stars that leap Up the heavens cold and steep; Turn when dawn comes over land, Over rapid, over sand,
South away! and South away! Seek the sunlight and the day, Back to pasture, back to mead, Where the king and oxen feed! Back to gardens on the hills Where the berry swells and fills Under sunlight, under day! South away! and South away!
Down the swift dark stream you go Back to lands you once did know! Leave the halls and caverns deep, Leave the northern mountains steep