--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: On rolls the stream with a perpetual…" description: "\"On rolls the stream with a perpetual sigh; The rocks moan wildly as it passes by; Hyssop and wormwood border all the strand, And not a flower adorns th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc8/william-c-bryant-3570_borders_on-rolls-the-stream-with-a-perpetual-sig_3201573.png" --- # On rolls the stream with a perpetual sigh; The rocks moan… ![“On rolls the stream with a perpetual sigh; The rocks moan wildly as it passes by; Hyssop and wormwood border all the strand, And not a flower adorns the dreary land.” quote by William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc8/william-c-bryant-3570_borders_on-rolls-the-stream-with-a-perpetual-sig_3201573.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc8/william-c-bryant-3570_borders_on-rolls-the-stream-with-a-perpetual-sig_3201573.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc8/william-c-bryant-3570_borders_on-rolls-the-stream-with-a-perpetual-sig_3201573.png) > “On rolls the stream with a perpetual sigh; The rocks moan wildly as it passes by; Hyssop and wormwood border all the strand, And not a flower adorns the dreary land.” [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poem depicts a bleak landscape where water flows mournfully past barren rocks, emphasizing desolation and lack of beauty. **In simple terms:** A sad, empty scene with a noisy river and no flowers. Key Takeaway Notice how environment reflects inner mood. Themes nature desolation sound imagery Mood somber reflective Type descriptive poetic When to use this quote - landscape painting - creative writing - environmental design Key Concepts melancholy solitude contrast Questions to Reflect On - What does the river symbolize? - How can barren settings inspire hope? A Different Perspective The description may romanticize hardship, ignoring resilience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adorns Dreary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adorns-dreary-5945594/) [Borders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borders/) [Desolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desolation/) [Dreary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreary/) [Dreary Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreary-land-5945592/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/land/) [Moan Wildly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moan-wildly-5945595/) [Perpetual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perpetual/) [Perpetual Sigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perpetual-sigh-5945593/) [River](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/river/) [Rocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks/) [Rocks Moan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks-moan-5945591/) [Sigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sigh/) [Strands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strands/) [Streams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streams/) [Wormwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wormwood/) ## Related quotes > [Miss Wormwood: Calvin, your test was an absolute disgrace! It's obvious you haven't read any of the material. Our first president was not Chef…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/miss-wormwood-calvin-your-test-was-an-absolute-disgrace-it-s-obvious/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [Removing the weeds, putting fresh soil about the bean stems, and encouraging this weed which I had sown, making the yellow soil express its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/removing-the-weeds-putting-fresh-soil-about-the-bean-stems-and/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [There's nothin' you can get from a book that you can't get from a television fastah!" -Harry Wormwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/there-s-nothin-you-can-get-from-a-book-that-you-can-t-get-from-a/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [“Be not deceived, Wormwood, our cause is never more in jeopardy than when a human, no longer desiring but still intending to do our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/be-not-deceived-wormwood-our-cause-is-never-more-in-jeopardy-than/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [With the first kiss his mouth will taste of wormwood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poppy-z-brite/with-the-first-kiss-his-mouth-will-taste-of-wormwood/) [Poppy Z. Brite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poppy-z-brite/) > [Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/do-not-be-deceived-wormwood-our-cause-is-never-more-in-danger-than/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-the-apostle/the-third-angel-sounded-his-trumpet-and-a-great-star-blazing-like-a/) [John the Apostle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-the-apostle/) > [“Funny, that. For so long Wormwood had desired the throne and then, when he'd had it, it hadn't been worth desiring after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/funny-that-for-so-long-wormwood-had-desired-the-throne-and-then-when/) [John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/) > [Ms. Wormwood: Calvin, can you tell us what Lewis and Clark did? Calvin: No, but I can recite the secret superhero origin of each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/ms-wormwood-calvin-can-you-tell-us-what-lewis-and-clark-did-calvin-no/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [Desire is poison at lunch and wormwood at dinner; your bed is a stone, friendship is hateful and your fancy is always fixed on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietro-aretino/desire-is-poison-at-lunch-and-wormwood-at-dinner-your-bed-is-a-stone/) [Pietro Aretino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietro-aretino/) > [Seventy is wormwood, Seventy is gall But its better to be seventy, Than not alive at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-mcginley/seventy-is-wormwood-seventy-is-gall-but-its-better-to-be-seventy-than/) [Phyllis McGinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-mcginley/) > [ \[A\] truly humble spirit humbles itself as much amid honors as amid insults, acting like the honeybee which makes its honey equally as well… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-de-paul/a-truly-humble-spirit-humbles-itself-as-much-amid-honors-as-amid/) [Vincent de Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-de-paul/) > [I know sage, wormwood, and hyssop, but I can't smell character unless it stinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/i-know-sage-wormwood-and-hyssop-but-i-can-t-smell-character-unless-it/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [If you can sin and not weep over it, you are an heir of Hell. If you can go into sin, and afterwards feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/if-you-can-sin-and-not-weep-over-it-you-are-an-heir-of-hell-if-you/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Surely it is a matter of joy, that your faith in Jesus has been preserved; the Comforter that should relieve you is not far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/surely-it-is-a-matter-of-joy-that-your-faith-in-jesus-has-been/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## More by William C. Bryant > [The gentle race of flowers Are lying in their lowly beds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/the-gentle-race-of-flowers-are-lying-in-their-lowly-beds/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [The victory of endurance born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/the-victory-of-endurance-born/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [Features, the great soul's apparent seat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/features-the-great-soul-s-apparent-seat/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [The February sunshine steeps your boughs and tints the buds and swells the leaves within.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/the-february-sunshine-steeps-your-boughs-and-tints-the-buds-and/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [Lo! while we are gazing, in swifter haste Stream down the snows, till the air is white, As, myriads by myriads madly chased, They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/lo-while-we-are-gazing-in-swifter-haste-stream-down-the-snows-till/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [Sustained and soothed By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/sustained-and-soothed-by-an-unfaltering-trust-approach-thy-grave-like/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [But Winter has yet brighter scenes-he boasts Splendors beyond what gorgeous Summer knows; Or Autumn with his many fruits, and woods All flushed with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/but-winter-has-yet-brighter-scenes-he-boasts-splendors-beyond-what/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [There is a Power whose care Teaches thy way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/there-is-a-power-whose-care-teaches-thy-way/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [Truth crushed to earth shall rise again,- The eternal years of God are hers; But Error, wounded, writhes with pain, And dies among his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/truth-crushed-to-earth-shall-rise-again-the-eternal-years-of-god-are/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [And the blue gentian-flower, that, in the breeze, Nods lonely, of her beauteous race the last.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/and-the-blue-gentian-flower-that-in-the-breeze-nods-lonely-of-her/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [A silence, the brief Sabbath of an hour, Reigns o'er the fields; the laborer sits within His dwelling; he has left his steers awhile,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/a-silence-the-brief-sabbath-of-an-hour-reigns-o-er-the-fields-the/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [The rugged trees are mingling Their flowery sprays in love; The ivy climbs the laurel To clasp the boughs above.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/the-rugged-trees-are-mingling-their-flowery-sprays-in-love-the-ivy/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [There is a day of sunny rest For every dark and troubled night; And grief may hide an evening guest, But joy shall come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/there-is-a-day-of-sunny-rest-for-every-dark-and-troubled-night-and/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [Poetry is that art which selects and arranges the symbols of thought in such a manner as to excite the imagination the most powerfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/poetry-is-that-art-which-selects-and-arranges-the-symbols-of-thought/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [God hath yoked to guilt her pale tormentor,--misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/god-hath-yoked-to-guilt-her-pale-tormentor-misery/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) [Explore all 127 William C. Bryant quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) ## More Borders quotes > [We have to get control of our borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-coffman/we-have-to-get-control-of-our-borders/) [Mike Coffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-coffman/) > [The U.S.-Mexican border es un herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/) [Gloria E. 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As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-day-o-connor/when-i-went-to-law-school-which-after-all-was-back-in-the-dark-ages/) [Sandra Day O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-day-o-connor/) > [Schengen cannot survive without the most dramatic reform, and the external borders of Europe must be rapidly strengthened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-soames/schengen-cannot-survive-without-the-most-dramatic-reform-and-the/) [Nicholas Soames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-soames/) > [The troops were occasionally occupied in pursuing scattered bands going north or south, and on three occasions the large camp of Sitting Bull ventured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-a-miles/the-troops-were-occasionally-occupied-in-pursuing-scattered-bands/) [Nelson A. Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-a-miles/) > [The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities. 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Puerto Penasco, 60 miles south of our border, just had five people and a police officer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-brewer/fifty-thousand-people-in-mexico-have-been-murdered-puerto-penasco-60/) [Jan Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-brewer/) > [The unpleasant truth is that some borders are untenable and preserving them causes conflict, not peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mearsheimer/the-unpleasant-truth-is-that-some-borders-are-untenable-and/) [John Mearsheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mearsheimer/) > [Interesting things happen along borders - transitions - not in the middle where everything is the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/interesting-things-happen-along-borders-transitions-not-in-the-middle/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [At no other time (than autumn) does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/at-no-other-time-than-autumn-does-the-earth-let-itself-be-inhaled-in/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [House Republicans want to pass a strong border security, illegal immigration bill. We want a bill. There is no ifs, ands or buts about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boehner/house-republicans-want-to-pass-a-strong-border-security-illegal/) [John Boehner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boehner/) [Browse all 1,650 Borders quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borders/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "On rolls the stream with a perpetual sigh; The rocks moan wildly as it passes by; Hyssop and wormwood border all the strand, And not a flower adorns the dreary land.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William C. 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