FOREST, LAKE, AND RIVER 



Of reckless life that^ scorning what is weak^ 

 Spurning the idle quiet and the hush. 

 Keen as the lightning, mounts with zigzag rush 

 The moving wall^ at length I 



And in thy human fights 



How, like a proud, a mettled steed, 



T'hy high-bred nature seemingly delights 



Full to display the splendor of thy speed ! 



'Thy leaps are more like flights. 



As if thou wouldst forsake 



Thine element and take 



The wings of morning or the winds to bear 



Thy Buoyancy along; 



And how thine armor glows, as if the rare 



Valor within shone through, to die in light ! 



Thou art, in faith, a Royal River-Knight — 



Well worth a minstrel's song I 



t:z 



