English Poetry. Ella Wheeler Wilcox. The River. Элла Уилкокс.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (Элла Уилкокс)

The River


I am a river flowing from God’s sea
Through devious ways. He mapped my course for me;
I cannot change it; mine alone the toil
To keep the waters free from grime and soil.
The winding river ends where it began;
And when my life has compassed its brief span
I must return to that mysterious source.
So let me gather daily on my course
The perfume from the blossoms as I pass,
Balm from the pines, and healing from the grass,
And carry down my current as I go
Not common stones but precious gems to show;
And tears (the holy water from sad eyes)
Back to God’s sea, from which all rivers rise
Let me convey, not blood from wounded hearts,
Nor poison which the upas tree imparts.
When over flowery vales I leap with joy,
Let me not devastate them, nor destroy,
But rather leave them fairer to the sight;
Mine be the lot to comfort and delight.
And if down awful chasms I needs must leap
Let me not murmur at my lot, but sweep
On bravely to the end without one fear,
Knowing that He who planned my ways stands near.
Love sent me forth, to Love I go again,
For Love is all, and over all. Amen.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s other poems:

Poems of other poets with the same name (Стихотворения других поэтов с таким же названием):

Coventry Patmore (Ковентри Патмор (Пэтмор)) The River (“It is a venerable place”)

Thomas Aird (Томас Эрд) The River (“Infant of the weeping hills”)

William Watson (Уильям Уотсон) The River (“As drones a bee with sultry hum”)

Charles Sorley (Чарльз Сорли) The River (“He watched the river running black”) February 1913

Rose Cooke (Роуз Кук) The River (“The river flows and flows away”)

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