Poetry day - By a goodly river's side

I've been enjoying little snippets of Anne Bradstreet's poetry this week, much of it expressions of her faith in God, but here is a nice little piece, expressing her simple delight in sitting by a river:

Painting: Trees by a River, by Armand Guillaumin

Under the cooling shadow of a stately elm

close sat I by a goodly river's side,

where gliding streams the rocks did overwhelm,

a lonely place, with pleasures dignified.

I once that loved the shady woods so well

now thought the rivers did the trees excel ...

Which lifted her eyes upward:

If so much excellence abide below,

how excellent is he that dwells on high,

whose power and beauty by his works we know?

Sure he is goodness, wisdom, glory, light ...

Anne Bradstreet