 | Jane and Ann Taylor: Original Poems for Infant Minds |  |
WATER.
What is it that glitters in changeable green,
Or dances in billows so bright?
Ships, skimming along on its surface, are seen.—
'Tis water—that beautiful sight!
Or dances in billows so bright?
Ships, skimming along on its surface, are seen.—
'Tis water—that beautiful sight!
Sea-weeds wind about in its cavities wet,
The pearl-oyster quietly sleeps;
A thousand fair shells, yellow amber, and jet;
And coral grows red in its deeps.
The pearl-oyster quietly sleeps;
A thousand fair shells, yellow amber, and jet;
And coral grows red in its deeps.
75
Whales lash the white foam in their frolicsome wrath,
While hoarsely the winter wind roars;
And shoals of green mackerel stretch from the north,
And wander along by our shores.
While hoarsely the winter wind roars;
And shoals of green mackerel stretch from the north,
And wander along by our shores.
When tempests awaken its waves from their sleep,
Like giants in fury they rise;
The ships now appear to be lost in the deep,
And now, carried up to the skies.
Like giants in fury they rise;
The ships now appear to be lost in the deep,
And now, carried up to the skies.
It gushes out clear from the sides of the hill;
Among the smooth pebbles it strays;
Creeps low in the valley, or roars through the mill,
And wanders in many a maze.
Among the smooth pebbles it strays;
Creeps low in the valley, or roars through the mill,
And wanders in many a maze.
The traveller that crosses the desert so wide,
Hot, weary, and stifled with dust,
Longs often to stoop at some rivulet's side,
To quench in its waters his thirst.
Hot, weary, and stifled with dust,
Longs often to stoop at some rivulet's side,
To quench in its waters his thirst.
The stately white swan glides along on its breast,
Nor ruffles its surface serene;
And the duckling unfledged waddles out of its nest,
To dabble in ditch-water green.
Nor ruffles its surface serene;
And the duckling unfledged waddles out of its nest,
To dabble in ditch-water green.
76
The clouds, blown about in the chilly blue sky,
Vast cisterns of water contain:
Like snowy white feathers in winter they fly,
In summer, stream gently in rain.
Vast cisterns of water contain:
Like snowy white feathers in winter they fly,
In summer, stream gently in rain.
When sunbeams so bright on the falling drops shine,
The arch of the rainbow comes o'er,
And glows in the heavens, a beautiful sign
That water shall drown us no more.
The arch of the rainbow comes o'er,
And glows in the heavens, a beautiful sign
That water shall drown us no more.
| Jane and Ann Taylor: Original Poems for Infant Minds | |