 | Snow-berries. A book for young folks |  |
155
TO A STAGNANT POND.
O pond of the meadow,
So low and so black,
Say why are you lying thus,
Flat on your back!
So low and so black,
Say why are you lying thus,
Flat on your back!
Week in and week out,
And from night until morn,
You have been doing nothing
Since first you were born.
And from night until morn,
You have been doing nothing
Since first you were born.
Now if you are not dead
But only just dumb,
Get up, sir, and take off
Your jacket of scum!
But only just dumb,
Get up, sir, and take off
Your jacket of scum!
No sweet little flower
To your dull bosom bends;
You have only the hop-toad
And snake for your friends!
To your dull bosom bends;
156
And snake for your friends!
No bird to your dark wave
Comes twittering down,
And the grass all about you
Is withered and brown.
Comes twittering down,
And the grass all about you
Is withered and brown.
It is time, and high time,
You were setting to work,
You sordid, unlovable,
Beggarly shirk!
You were setting to work,
You sordid, unlovable,
Beggarly shirk!
Just think, with your brow
Into black wrinkles curled,
You never have gladdened
A heart in the world!
Into black wrinkles curled,
You never have gladdened
A heart in the world!
And if you would henceforth
Escape from abuse,
Get up, I beseech you,
And be of some use!
Escape from abuse,
Get up, I beseech you,
And be of some use!
Close at hand, only hid by
The sheep-grazing hill,
Your gad-about sister
Is turning a mill.
The sheep-grazing hill,
Your gad-about sister
Is turning a mill.
Her path is so pleasant,
Her smile is so bright,
The flocks stay about her
All day and all night.
Her smile is so bright,
The flocks stay about her
All day and all night.
157
The wild mint leans lowly,
Her kiss is so sweet,
And the stones that she treads on
Sing under her feet.
Her kiss is so sweet,
And the stones that she treads on
Sing under her feet.
With foam-flowers always
Her wet locks are crowned,
And her bushes with berries
Blush all the year round.
Her wet locks are crowned,
And her bushes with berries
Blush all the year round.
She counts not the mill-work
As doing her wrong,
But makes the wheel partner,
And dances along.
As doing her wrong,
But makes the wheel partner,
And dances along.
And so, with her life
And her labor content,
She is queen of the meadow
By common consent.
And her labor content,
She is queen of the meadow
By common consent.
Now here is a secret,
Receive it in faith,—
True life is in action,
Stagnation is death.
Receive it in faith,—
True life is in action,
Stagnation is death.
And this you may learn
From your sister, the brook,
As though it were written
And bound in a book.
From your sister, the brook,
As though it were written
And bound in a book.
158
You die in your torpor,
She rests in her strife,
Because she is keeping
The law of her life.
She rests in her strife,
Because she is keeping
The law of her life.
And would you be happy
As she at her mill,
Throw off your scum jacket,
And work with a will.
As she at her mill,
Throw off your scum jacket,
And work with a will.
| Snow-berries. A book for young folks | |