Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE OLD WATER-WHEEL, by JOHN RUSKIN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE OLD WATER-WHEEL, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: It lies beside the river; where its marge
Last Line: How they once sounded. All is silent now.
Subject(s): Water-wheels


IT lies beside the river; where its marge
Is black with many an old and oarless barge,
And yeasty filth, and leafage wild and rank
Stagnate and batten by the crumbling bank.

Once, slow revolving by the industrious mill,
It murmured, only on the Sabbath still;
And evening winds its pulse-like beating bore
Down the soft vale, and by the winding shore.

Sparkling around its orbèd motion flew,
With quick, fresh fall, the drops of dashing dew,
Through noon-tide heat that gentle rain was flung,
And verdant round the summer herbage sprung.

Now dancing light and sounding motion cease,
In these dark hours of cold continual peace;
Through its black bars the unbroken moonlight flows,
And dry winds howl about its long repose;

And mouldering lichens creep, and mosses grey
Cling round its arms, in gradual decay,
Amidst the hum of men—which doth not suit
That shadowy circle, motionless and mute.

So, by the sleep of many a human heart,
The crowd of men may bear their busy part,
Where withered, or forgotten, or subdued,
Its noisy passions have left solitude.

Ah, little can they trace the hidden truth!
What waves have moved it in the vale of youth!
And little can its broken chords avow
How they once sounded. All is silent now.





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