to the river charles

River! that in silence windest

Through the meadows, bright and free,

Till at length thy rest thou findest

In the bosom of the sea! 

George Washington Bridge & NYC across the Hudson River

Four long years of mingled feeling,

Half in rest, and half in strife,

I have seen thy waters stealing

Onward, like the stream of life. 

Thou hast taught me, Silent River!

  Many a lesson, deep and long;

Thou hast been a generous giver;

  I can give thee but a song. 

George Washington Bridge & NYC in the distance

Oft in sadness and in illness,

  I have watched thy current glide,

Till the beauty of its stillness

  Overflowed me, like a tide. 

And in better hours and brighter,

  When I saw thy waters gleam,

I have felt my heart beat lighter,

  And leap onward with thy stream. 

Not for this alone I love thee,

  Nor because thy waves of blue

From celestial seas above thee

  Take their own celestial hue. 

Where yon shadowy woodlands hide thee,

  And thy waters disappear,

Friends I love have dwelt beside thee,

  And have made thy margin dear. 

More than this; thy name reminds me

  Of three friends, all true and tried;

And that name, like magic, binds me

  Closer, closer to thy side. 

Friends my soul with joy remembers!

  How like quivering flames they start,

When I fan the living embers

  On the hearth-stone of my heart! 

bench by the Hudson River trail walk

'T is for this, thou Silent River!

  That my spirit leans to thee;

Thou hast been a generous giver,

  Take this idle song from me.

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow