FOUR SONGS OF FOUR SEASONS.
171
The patient fairy
Of water waits;
All shrunk and wizen,
In iron prison,
Till spring re‑risen
Unbar the gates;
Till, as with clamour
Of axe and hammer,
Chained streams that stammer
And struggle in straits
Burst bonds that shiver,
And thaws deliver
The roaring river in stormy spates.
xi.
White waves break tether,
And whirled together
At either hand,