POETRY OLD AND NEW.
THE RIVER. Clear and cool, clear and cool, By laughing shadow and dreaming pool; Cool and clear, cool and clear, By shining shingle and foaming weir; Under the crag, where the ouzel sings, And tho ivied wall, where the church bell rings, TJndeflled for the undefiled,. Play by me, bathe in me, mother and child. Dank and foul, dank and foul. By the smoky town, in its murky cowl; Foul and dank, foul and dank, By wharf and sewer, and slimy bank; Darker and darker the farther I go. Baser and baser the richer I grow, Who dare sport with the sin-defiled? Shrink from me, turn from me, mother and child. Strong and free, strong and free, The flood-gates are open, away to the sea; Free and strong, free and strong. Cleansing my streams as I hurry along. To tho golden sands, and the leaping bar. And the taintless tide that awaits me afar. As I lose myself in the infinite main, Like a soul that has sinned and is pardoned again, Undefiled for the undefiled, Play by me, bathe in me, mother and child. CHARLES KINGSLEY.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19101005.2.109
Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14492, 5 October 1910, Page 9
Word Count
191POETRY OLD AND NEW. New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14492, 5 October 1910, Page 9
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