The Brook And The Sparrow
OH, whither so fast, my Lady Brook,
Oh, whither so fast to-day?
Tarry awhile from your onward dance,
And peep out here with your men-y glance,
To chat with a friend, I pray."
And the Brook made answer," I cannot stay,
Sweet Sparrow, to prate with you,
For the morning hours are flitting away,
And I have my task to do."
"And what may your work be, Lady Brook,
That you cannot stop to-day?
Babbling over the stones you go,
And a noisy tongue you have, I trow,
But what your tasks, I pray?
Nothing, I wean, but an idle song
To sing as you wander by
Nothing, I wean, but to catch the gleam
Of the sun in the deep blue sky;
Nothing but dimple and flirt with the bee
Or the yellow butterfly."
"Friend Sparrow," replied the little Brook,
"Mine are but humble tasks;
Yet a willing step and a cheerful look
My great Employer asks,
And gladly I fulfill them all,
Simple although they be,
And I sing, for the very joy of my heart,
To the butterfly and the bee."
"And what are these wondrous tasks, I pray? "
Quoth the Sparrow, in disdain;
And she laughed outright, while the little Brook,
Made answer yet again:
"I bathe the roots of the willow trees
Beneath whose boughs I pass,
And the hazel-bush and the alders low,
And freshen the meadows through which I flow,
And strengthen the tender grass;
The sweet wild-flowers would droop and die
If not for my nursing care,
And on my marge is the greenest moss
That groweth anywhere.
"The birds alight at the morning's prime
To splash in my cooling breast,
And the weary oxen come down to drink
At the noonday hour of rest,
And the lowing kine from the meadows come,
And I give them a draught so clear,
You may believe they are loath to leave
A fount of such dainty cheer;
Simple, indeed, friend Sparrow, I know,
Are the tasks that I fulfill;
Yet methinks the humblest work should be
Performed with an earnest will;
It giveth a feeling of such content
To do in all things our best.
But now I must bid you a kind good-day."
Then the Rivulet hastened on its way,
And the Sparrow, with nothing else to say,
Flew back again to her nest.
S. S. Visitor.