Five Mile Run 



Five Mile Run 



(The Stony Creek) 



Dear little man — do you mind the brook 



Called ''Five Mile Run," and the route we took 



To reach it by that last small street 



Where the sky and the old town seemed to meet? 



And how glad we were, little man — do you mind? — 



To leave the noise and the heat behind, 



And feel the houses were out of sight 



And we needn't be back again till night! 



How we stopped to hark, where the willows grew, 



For its first, faint music stealing through? — 



That limpid stream, with its rippling song, 



That laughed with joy, as we came along. 



Through bush and bramble, by vine and tree, 



Lured by the wilding melody! 



How we kept together, and, crouching low, 



Caught deep, bright glimpses of its flow 



Down, down through a dim and leafy maze, 



All woven with branches overhead. 



That closed at length on its silver thread 



And set a bound to our eager gaze? — 



Yet not to our feet which followed still, 



Sure to find again our merry rill! 



And then, do you mind — dear little man. 



That break in the woods where the water ran 



Right into the open for half a mile, 



To go to sleep in the sun a while? 



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