Clear and cool, clear and cool, <br />By laughing shallow and dreaming pool; <br />Cool and clear, cool and clear, <br />By shining shingle and foaming weir; <br />Under the crag where the ouzel sings, <br />And the ivied wall where the church-bell rings, <br />Undefiled, for the undefiled; <br />Play by me, bathe in me, mother and child. <br /> <br />Dank and foul, dank and foul, <br />By the smoky town in its murky cowl; <br />Foul and dank, foul and dank, <br />By wharf and sewer and slimy bank; <br />Darker and darker the farther I go, <br />Baser and baser the richer I grow; <br />Who dare sport with the sin-defiled? <br />Shrink from me, turn from me, mother and child. <br /> <br />Strong and free, strong and free, <br />The flood-gates are open, away to the sea. <br />Free and strong, free and strong, <br />Cleansing my streams as I hurry along, <br />To the golden sands, and the leaping bar, <br />And the taintless tide that awaits me afar. <br />As I lose myself in the infinite main, <br />Like a soul that has sinned and is pardoned again, <br />Undefiled, for the undefiled; <br />Play by me, bathe in me, mother and child.<br /><br />Charles Kingsley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-tide-river/
