Oxus Op. 47 by Humphrey Searle Lyrics

But the majestic river floated on
Out of the mist and hum of that low land
Into the frosty starlight, and there moved
Rejoicing, through the hush'd Chorasmian waste
Under the solitary moon; -- he flow'd
Right for the polar star, past Orgunjè
Brimming, and bright, and large; then sands begin
To hem his watery march, and dam his streams
And split his currents; that for many a league
The shorn and parcell'd Oxus strains along
Through beds of sand and matted rushy isles--
Oxus, forgetting the bright speed he had
In his high mountain-cradle in Pamere
A foil'd circuitous wanderer--till at last
The long'd-for dash of waves is heard, and wide
His luminous home of waters opens, bright
And tranquil, from whose floor the new-bathed stars
Emerge, and shine upon the Aral Sea