Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE OLD WATER-WHEEL, by JOHN RUSKIN Poet's Biography First Line: It lies beside the river; where its marge Last Line: How they once sounded. All is silent now. Subject(s): Water-wheels | ||||||||
IT lies beside the river; where its marge Is black with many an old and oarless barge, And yeasty filth, and leafage wild and rank Stagnate and batten by the crumbling bank. Once, slow revolving by the industrious mill, It murmured, only on the Sabbath still; And evening winds its pulse-like beating bore Down the soft vale, and by the winding shore. Sparkling around its orbèd motion flew, With quick, fresh fall, the drops of dashing dew, Through noon-tide heat that gentle rain was flung, And verdant round the summer herbage sprung. Now dancing light and sounding motion cease, In these dark hours of cold continual peace; Through its black bars the unbroken moonlight flows, And dry winds howl about its long repose; And mouldering lichens creep, and mosses grey Cling round its arms, in gradual decay, Amidst the hum of menwhich doth not suit That shadowy circle, motionless and mute. So, by the sleep of many a human heart, The crowd of men may bear their busy part, Where withered, or forgotten, or subdued, Its noisy passions have left solitude. Ah, little can they trace the hidden truth! What waves have moved it in the vale of youth! And little can its broken chords avow How they once sounded. All is silent now. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE WATERWHEEL by ELEANOR VAN WINKLE A SCYTHIAN BANQUET SONG by JOHN RUSKIN A WALK IN CHAMOUNI by JOHN RUSKIN ARISTODEMUS AT PLATAEA by JOHN RUSKIN CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD; NIGHT by JOHN RUSKIN FRAGMENTS FROM A METRICAL JOURNAL: ANDERNACHT by JOHN RUSKIN FRAGMENTS FROM A METRICAL JOURNAL: ST. GOAR by JOHN RUSKIN |
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