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