@3Deer-hoof dint and moccasin print Stamped the moss that rimmed my flow; Adder's-tongue and fragrant mint Grew -- where nothing now may grow; Dragon-flies in shimmering schools Reveled here, an airy rout; Minnows rilled my glimmering pools, Through my rapids flashed the trout. Gone the hunter, fled the deer; All the birds I loved are flown; Men have hid my waters clear Under piles of rigid stone. Men have tombed my silver springs; Yet, within the sunless caves All unheard my torrent sings, All unseen I pour my waves. Mocking, delving, deep I lurk. What! they dream my fount is dry? Lo! I ruin all their work. Mortal, they; but deathless, I. Let them hold their gloomy day! I that laugh shall rule at last. When the massive walls decay, When the towers to earth are cast, I shall flash a clearer sun, I shall lure my birds again; Deep in bloom my streams shall run Through the crumbled homes of men.@1 |