The Brook

I come frora Ub haunts of coot and herh, I make a sudden sally, And sparklé ovt among the fern, To bicker lown tlie valley ; By thirsty hillí I hurry down, Or slip bebvoen the ridges, By twenty thoips - a little town - And half anundred bridges ; Till last by Phillips' farm I flow To join the brimming river ; For men may come and men may go, But I go ou forever. I cluster over stony ways, ín little sharps and trebles ; I bubble into eídying liayx, I bubble oa the pebbles ; With many a corve my banks I fret, By many a field and fallow, And many a fairy forelandlset, With willow weed aud mallow, I clatter, as I ílow To join Ue brimming river For men may come and nien may go, But I go on forever. I wind about. and in and out. With here a blossom sailing ; And here and there a lusty trout, And here and there a graylíng ; And liere and there a foamy flake Upon me as I travel, With many a silvery water-break Above the golden gravel ; And draw them all along and flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever. I steal by lawns and grassy plots, I slide by hazel covers. I move the sweet forget-me-nots, That grow for happy lovers ; I slip, I glide, I gleam, I danco Among my skimming swallows,. I make the nettled sunbeams dance, Agaiust my sandy shallows ; I innrniur under nioon and stars, lu brambly wildernesses, I linger by my shingle bars, And loiter round my cresses ; And out again I curve and flow To join the brimming river ; For men may come and men may go, But 1 go on forover.