Poems (Craik)/At the Linn-Side
AT THE LINN-SIDE.
Roslin.
LIVING, living water, So busy and so bright, Aye flashing in the morning beams, And sounding through the night; O golden-shining water— Would God that I might be A vocal message from His mouth Into the world, like thee!O merry, merry water, Which nothing e'er affrays; And as it pours from rock to rock Nothing e'er stops or stays; But past cool heathery hollows And gloomy pools it flows; Past crags that fain would shut it in Leaps through—and on it goes.
O freshening, sparkling water, O voice that 's never still, Though winter lays her dead-white hand On brae and glen and hill; Though no leaf 's left to flutter In woods all mute and hoar, Yet thou, river, night and day Thou runnest evermore.
No foul thing can pollute thee; Thy swiftness casts aside All ill, like a good heart and true, However sorely tried. O living, living water, So fresh and bright and free—God lead us through this changeful world Forever pure, like thee!