A GREAT green spread of meadow land, <br />(Must rest his weight on an ample base), <br />A secret water moving on, <br />A clean blue air for his breathing-space, <br />A pair of willows bending down <br />In double witness to his grace, <br />And on the rock his sinner sprawls <br />And looks the Strong One face to face. <br /> <br /> <br />The sinner's mocking tongue is dry, <br />Wonder is on that mighty jeerer, <br />He loves, and he never loved before, <br />He wants the glowing sky no nearer, <br />He likes the willows to be two, <br />He would not have the water clearer, <br />He thinks that God is perfect once: <br />Heaven, rejoice! a new God-fearer. <br /> <br /> <br />And now each quiet thing awakes <br />And dances madly, wavers, dips; <br />These are God's motions on the air, <br />His Pulse for the sinner's finger-tips, <br />His arrows shot across the blue, <br />His love-words dropping from his lips, <br />And who ever heard such whisperings, <br />Who ever saw such fellowships?<br /><br />John Crowe Ransom<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/by-the-riverside-2/
