CLEAR and cool, clear and cool, By laughing shallow and dreaming pool; Cool and clear, cool and clear, By shining shingle and foaming weir; Under the crag where the ouzel sings, And the ivied wall where the church-bell rings, Undefiled 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 further 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 the 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! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A CHRISTMAS CAROL, SUNG TO THE KING IN THE PRESENCE AT WHITEHALL by ROBERT HERRICK EDEN BOWER by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI WASHINGTON'S MONUMENT, FEBRUARY, 1885 by WALT WHITMAN EN PASSANT by EDITH COURTENAY BABBITT THE WASHINGTON BICENTENNIAL by CLARA BECK THE LAST BALLADE; MASTER FRANCOIS VILLON LOQUITUR by THOMAS BEER HINC LACHRIMAE; OR THE AUTHOR TO AURORA: 38 by WILLIAM BOSWORTH |