Unrest and Rest 



Leon Augustus Hausman 



Unrest 



Over the mill-wheel rushes the river, 



Forever pouring, 



Incessantly roaring, 



Unrestfully leaping, 



Tempestuously sweeping, 



On to the sea it hurries forever! 



Within the broad ocean 



'T would cease from its motion; 



But lo, the great Sun 



Wills it shall not be done 



With leaping and turning 



The huge mill-stones burning. 



'Tis lifted on high, 



And as clouds in the sky, 



Goes fore'er floating by, 



Back to the source of its primeval yearning. 



It descends in the rain 



And collects once again 



In a thousand bright rills 



From a thousand green hills, 



And headlong continues its rush to the main ! 



O, unhappy river, Wilt thou never be still? 



Unrestful forever, When shalt thou be spent ; 



Compelled thus to flow, When rest in content ; 



Unceasing to go Will the Sun ne'er relent, 



From hill, rill, and mill; O Sisyphean river? 



Rest 

 From hill to sea my merry course I take, 

 And as through flowery meads I bubbling flow, 

 My ripples 'neath their banks a happy choral wake 

 Or 'mid the sedges murmur soft and low. 



With port sedate, through many a verdant plain 

 In stately wise and slow I tranquil glide; 

 Until at length, my journey o'er, I gain 

 A rest eternal in the oceans' tide. 



