Sunset on the Mississippi

Read 'Sunset on the Mississippi' by 'Fannie Isabelle Sherrick' and provide your summary and literary analysis in the comments section below.

Sunset on the Mississippi by Fannie Isabelle Sherrick

O beautiful hills in the purple light,
  That shadow the western sky,
I dream of you oft in the silent night,
  As the golden days go by.
The river that flows at my longing feet
  Is tinged with a deeper glow;
But the song that it sings is as sad to-day
  As it was in the long ago.
The far-off clouds in the far-off sky
  Are tinted with gold and red;
But the lesson they tell to the hearts of men
  Is a lesson that never is said.
The star-crowned night in her sable plumes
  Is veiling the eastern sky,
And she trails her robes in the dying fires
  That far in the west do lie.
A single gem from her circlet old
  Is lost as she wanders by,
And the beautiful star with its golden light
  Shines out in the lonely sky.
O beautiful star in the misty sky,
  My soul would take wings with tee;
But you sail away in your golden seas
  With never a thought for me.
O sun-crowned hills in the purple light.
  I could sit at your feet forever;
But you fade away in the shadowy night
  And I'll see you again, ah, never.
Dark river that flows at my longing feet,
  I list to your music low;
But the song that you sing brings me thoughts to-night
  Of the beautiful long ago;
And my soul grows sad as I think of the day—
  That radiant day of light—
When the sun went down in a glory of gold
  'Neath the pitiless shadows of night.
Farewell, ye hills in the purple light;
  Farewell to your glory forever;
You fade away in the silent night,
  And I'll see you again, ah, never!

Form: Ballad

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