Rippling Water
The maiden sat by the river side
(The rippling water murmurs by),
And sadly into the clear blue tide
The salt tear fell from her clear blue eye.
' 'Tis fixed for better, for worse,' she cried,
'And to-morrow the bridegroom claims the bride.
Oh ! wealth and power and rank and pride
Can surely peace and happiness buy.
I was merry, nathless, in my girlhood's hours,
'Mid the waving grass, when the bright sun shone.
Shall I be as merry in Marmaduke's towers ?'
(The rippling water murmurs on.)
Stephen works for his daily bread
(The rippling water murmurs low),
Through the crazy thatch that covers his head
The rain-drops fall and the wind-gusts blow.
'I'll mend the old roof-tree,' so he said,
'And repair the cottage when we are wed.'
And my pulses throbb'd, and my cheek grew red,
When he kiss'd me—that was long ago.
Stephen and I, should we meet again,
Not as we've met in days that are gone,
Will my pulses throb with pleasure or pain ?
(The rippling water murmurs on.)
Old Giles, the gardener, strok'd my curls
(The rippling water murmurs past),
Quoth he, 'In laces and silks and pearls
My child will see her reflection cast ;
Now I trust in my heart that your lord will be
Kinder to you than he was to me,
When I lay in the gaol, and my children three
With their sickly mother kept bitter fast.'
With Marmaduke now my will is law,
Marmaduke's will may be law anon ;
Does the sheath of velvet cover the claw ?
(The rippling water murmurs on.)
Dame Martha patted me on the cheek
(The rippling water murmurs low),
Saying, 'There are words that I fain would speak—
Perhaps they were best spoken though ;
I can't persuade you to change your mind,
And useless warnings are scarcely kind,
And I may be foolish as well as blind,
But take my blessing whether or no.'
Dame Martha's wise, though her hair is white,
Her sense is good, though her sight is gone—
Can she really be gifted with second sight ?
(The rippling water murmurs on.)
Brian of Hawksmede came to our cot
(The rippling water murmurs by),
Scatter'd the sods of our garden plot,
Riding his roan horse recklessly ;
Trinket and token and tress of hair,
He flung them down at the door-step there,
Said, 'Elsie ! ask your lord, if you dare,
Who gave him the blow as well as the lie.'
That evening I mentioned Brian's name,
And Marmaduke's face grew white and wan,
Am I pledged to one of a spirit so tame ?
(The rippling water murmurs on.)
Brian is headstrong, rash, and vain
(The rippling water murmurs still),
Stephen is somewhat duller of brain,
Slower of speech and milder of will ;
Stephen must toil a living to gain,
Plough and harrow and gather the grain ;
Brian has little enough to maintain
The station in life which he needs must fill ;
Both are fearless and kind and frank,
But we can't win all gifts under the sun—
What have I won save riches and rank ?
(The rippling water murmurs on.)
Riches and rank, and what beside
(The rippling water murmurs yet),
The mansion is stately, the manor is wide,
Their lord for a while may pamper and pet ;
Liveried lackeys may jeer aside,
Though the peasant girl is their master's bride,
At her shyness, mingled with with awkward pride,—
'Twere folly for trifles like these to fret ;
But the love of one that I cannot love,
Will it last when the gloss of his toy is gone ?
Is there naught beyond, below, or above ?
(The rippling water murmurs on.)
poem by Adam Lindsay Gordon
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Related quotes
Rippling Waters
Rippling Waters
By: Adam M. Snow
Let the water ripples;
as our reflection is shown.
For it has tripled;
for we are all alone.
Let the rain dropp upon rippling waters;
showing us our past and our future.
For we are no longer curse;
for it shows what we once were.
Let our reflection in the ripples show;
how our love gently flow.
For our touch is also smooth;
for there is no need to lie for we know the truth.
Let the moon beam upon our reflection;
showing us there is no affliction.
Let our reflection in the ripples show;
how our love gently flow.
poem by Adam M. Snow
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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At the Vaal river
At the Vaal river finches twitter
and nests hang all over the willow trees
and the fishermen
sit from dusk next to the water,
to try and catch a big one.
I see a monitor
going from the water
into the undergrowth
and hear how the rippling stream
flows over rocks at places
There’s a water beetle
that swims around and around
in a calm pool
and tadpoles that rush to and fro.
With time spent at the river
I find some tranquillity,
while the cars above at the bridge
rush by frantically.
poem by Gert Strydom
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4. Elements – Water
Water an elemental
Water a fundamental
Building block of life
Water of Life
Water of Death
Water in all religions
Water in all living things
Water in all countries
Water also used for barter
No life without water
No rife with water
No respect for water
Willful neglect of water
Water, for cooking
Water, for cleaning
Water, for drinking
Water, for living
Water, for dying
Water is the same
In all languages
Water is the same
To all living beings
poem by Anand Dixit
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I have talked with the moon
i have talked with the moon,
promised to shine in the bench by the river,
where you and your partner read my lines,
i maybe far or have gone,
in the reflection of my many stars,
cool water whispers wonderful words,
as you hum the sonnet i made long time ago,
when the moon rest in the rippling water,
the smoke rises from the bonfire i made,
gone in the altitude of nowhere,
leaving only the remnants of my many kisses,
entrapped in the pages of closed poem book,
my gift to you, yesterday
poem by Crisante Igama
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Looking for Water
Still the leaves are spinning 'round
Take my hand as we go down, and down, and down
Looking for water
Well, our light's gone in a New York minute
Don't know about you, but my heart's not in it
(Looking, looking, looking)
I'm looking for water
I'm looking for water
(Looking, looking, looking)
I can't breathe the air, can't raise a fact
'Cause all we've got left is a beat in the night, and I'm
(Looking for water)
Looking for water
(Looking for water)
(Looking, looking)
Take my hand as we go down, and down
Leave it all behind, nothing could be found
(I'm, looking for water)
I'm looking for water
(Looking for water)
(Looking, looking)
(I, looking for water)
Looking everywhere
(Looking for water)
Looking here and there
(I'm looking for water)
I'm looking for water
(Looking for water)
(Looking, looking)
I can't live in this cage, I can't eat this candy
The edge of the earth to the spin in my head
The look in your eyes and never means never
The dawn's early light, baby, dark is forever
(Looking, looking)
(Looking, looking)
(Looking for water)
(Looking, looking)
I
(Looking for water)
(Looking for water)
(Looking, looking)
I
(Looking for water)
(Looking for water)
(Looking, looking)
I
(Looking for water)
(Looking for watter)
Looking, looking)
I
(Looking for water)
(Looking for watter)
Looking, looking)
I
(Looking for water)
(Looking for watter)
song performed by by David Bowie, music by David Bowie, lyrics by David Bowie from Reality
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Makes You Laugh and Cry At the Same Time-2
Quasimodo was in the stocks
and Esmeralda felt pity for him
and gave him water.
They release him
and he tries to get back to the church.
He has to run the gauntlet of the crowd
who spit on him
beat him as he passes
curse him,
bloody him.
He gets the church door
staggering
as rocks pummel him from behind
and slams the doors
and with his back to the door
raises his hand to cover his mouth
and murmurs'
'She gave me water! '
Makes me laugh and cry at the same time.
He has discovered love.
She has offered pity.
poem by Lonnie Hicks
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Splash!
Splashing water, Water get,
Shooting jets, Getting wet,
Crystal Clear, Cool Water,
Water, Water, Water matter,
Water's Life, Water let
Living life, Keep alive.
Water, water, we survive.
The Water
Let others make the songs of love
For our young struggling nation;
But I will sing while e’er I live
The Songs of Irrigation;
For while the white man shall beget
The white man’s son and daughter,
The two most precious things for us
Shall still be wheat and water.
We’ve been drought-ruined in the West—
And ever in my dreaming
I see wide miles of waving crops
And sheets of water gleaming,
On plains where fortune died of thirst
When my brave father sought her,
I see the painted barges pass
Along the winding water.
And now the glorious scheme’s afoot,
Our country to deliver
From drought and death on blazing waste,
By long neglected river.
You’ll see the boodlers of the world
Rush in from every quarter:
They want the land,—the gold-reefed sand,
And now they’ll want the water.
Bright intellects will plan the dykes—
With little gold to gild them—
Bright intellects will plan the dykes,
The people pay to build them;
And when we’ve made our long canals,
And lakes in every quarter,
Then ours would be the “guarantee”—
The Trust would own the water.
They’d hold the bores and aqueducts,
The water-ways and barges,
And we would live, or we would starve
According to their charges;
From all the Edens in the West
They’d bar our sons and daughters—
They’d hold the land, ten leagues or so,
Each side the rippling waters.
But those who fight to hold their own,
The Lord and time delivers;
As we have held our railway lines,
So we shall hold our rivers.
We’ll find the money, as was found
The money spent in slaughter,
To build our dykes and build our dams,
And we shall own the water.
poem by Henry Lawson
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Of Glory
WHO will persuade me that one perfect song
Is not more glorious than a victor’s bays?
I know not who. I ask because the phrase
Runs lightly and the final words are strong.
But did you press me for a right or wrong,
Then would I bid you hunt for perfect lays,
And rouse the dust of dead heroic days,
And pass your judgement if you live so long.
To me it seems more worth, when all is said,
To smoke a friend’s cigar and see the moon
Lie rippling on the Arno mid the strewn
White ranks of rippling stars, to give my head
Its own good leading, to expect no boon,
To sing, and damn the world, and join the dead.
poem by Arthur Maquarie
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Relics Of Love
the moon took away the memory
of you
the wind conceals the secrets
your shadow dissolves in the
days of my life
the river constantly murmurs
about what happens to the forest
jewels
my hands are closed
they do not open to the water
the rain is no exemption
to this hiding
but then the blankets and the pillows
where the locks of your hair are homed
still whisper your name
in the crevices of artful rocks
your face is carved
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Cool Water
Words and music by bob nolan
Revised lyrics by joni mitchell
All day I face the barren waste
Without a taste of water
Cool water
Old dan and i
Our throats slate dry
Our spirits cry out for water
Cool clear water
Keep on movin dan
Some devils had a plan
Buried poison in the sand
Dont drink it man
Its in the water
Cool clear water
In my mind I see
A big green tree
And a river flowin free
Waitin up ahead
For you and me
Cool clear water
The nights are cool and Im a fool
Each star is a pool of water
Cool water
But come the dawn
We carry on
We wont last long without water
Cool clear water
Keep on movin dan
Were still in no-mans land
Dry bones and sand
People never planned here for water
Cool clear water
In my mind I see
A big green tree
And a river flowin free
Waiting up ahead for you and me
Cool clear water
The shadows sway
They seem to say
Tonight we pray for water
Cool water
And way up there
If you care
Please show us where
Theres good water
Cool clear water
song performed by by Joni Mitchell
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Millions of water drops
drops of water
millions of drops
Falling down the rocks
Millions of water drops
Glittering in the sun
Shining like pearls
Millions of water drops
Ending as a river
Finding way to ocean
Millions of water drops
Creating childrens happiness
Laughter and joyfullness
Millions of water drops
Soon will tide reach
White long shores
Millions of water drops
Animating Waves
into forming caves
Millions of water drops
splittering from above
till reaching top of the hill
Millions of water drops
Without them no sound
No whispers of the living
Millions of water drops
Watch the clearness
From crest to earth
Millions of water drops
For tribe’s best
Beware of waste
Millions of water drops
Treasured should they be
As belonging to all humanity
(march 2008, Switzerland)
poem by Morhardt Carmen Mencita Monoi Angel
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Compensation
In that new world toward which our feet are set,
Shall we find aught to make our hearts forget
Earth's homely joys and her bright hours of bliss?
Has heaven a spell divine enough for this?
For who the pleasure of the spring shall tell
When on the leafless stalk the brown buds swell,
When the grass brightens and the days grow long,
And little birds break out in rippling song?
O sweet the dropping eve, the blush of morn,
The starlit sky, the rustling fields of corn,
The soft airs blowing from the freshening seas,
The sunflecked shadow of the stately trees,
The mellow thunder and the lulling rain,
The warm, delicious, happy summer rain,
When the grass brightens and the days grow long,
And little birds break out in rippling song!
O beauty manifold, from morn till night,
Dawn's flush, noon's blaze and sunset's tender light!
O fair, familiar features, changes sweet
Of her revolving seasons, storm and sleet
And golden calm, as slow she wheels through space,
From snow to roses, - and how dear her face,
When the grass brightens, when the days grow long,
And little birds break out in rippling song!
O happy earth! O home so well beloved!
What recompense have we, from thee removed?
One hope we have that overtops the whole, -
The hope of finding every vanished soul,
We love and long for daily, and for this
Gladly we turn from thee, and all thy bliss,
Even at thy loveliest, when the days are long,
And little birds break out in rippling song.
poem by Celia Thaxter
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Rippling Mirrors
Rippling mirrors morning
Yellow roads ahead
Winter without warning
Made my roses dead
Now there´s time of evening
Kisses of the cold
Temperaments in a swing
Depth of frost unfold
Grays of shadows close
Murky hours calling
Wintriness morning rose
in window drops falling
Like my love that is lost
On to the past of days
Deep hollow earthly frost
Each its pleasures ways
Rippling morning´s glowing
In the clouds going by
Everything is now going
From its fervor high
Yesterdays were giving
All the things from heart
Now new times are living
In their pathways depart
poem by Peter S. Quinn
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I Want Water
Just dont taste good.
Whats wrong-number one water.
So the rice grower, ' said'.
You maybe want more.
Feel like a shut door.
Water just dont feel right.
Acid-rain- blurring my sight.
Number one water-BOY.
Please dont tell me more.
YOU MUST HAVE WATER.
YOU number -1,1,1,1, -wont live.
Water shock to the body.
Water just dont feel right.
Must have some water, water.
WHAT YOU MEAN-YOU WANT -WATER.
Out on the block -GIRL.
BABY NEEDS WATER.
YOE, YOE, YOE-you got-WATER
MAN-KEEP YOUR COOL.
YOE-COOL water MAN.
COOL WATER
WATER.
WAT.
W.
[[[[the end]]]
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poem by Joe Poewhit
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Inscription for a Medicinal Fountain at the Leasowes
Thou sacred nymph! whose pious care
Pours from thine urn this mineral rill,
Whose healing draughts, like crystal fair,
In pleasing murmurs here distil.
Who guid'st the stream, and joy'st to dwell,
Where murmurs soft with use agree;
May Phoebus haunt this hallow'd well,
And all his Sisters learn of thee.
poem by William Shenstone
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Halfway
you ride a boat
now you are at the middle
of the sea
the land at both sides
seem far
halfway is a malady.
impatient sometimes
you think
you'd like to sink
and be gone for good
the lighthouse blinks
to help
now there is only darkness
throughout
the sea murmurs
fish glisten in the water below
you let the night pass
as you begin to count the stars
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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I Need Water
Scorching hot summer’s day
Devastation struck on our holiday.
Water, water running out
No more water left about.
Where is water?
What to do?
Stressing, thirsty, hungry too.
Need a shower!
Need a drink!
But there is no time to think.
Running, running to the store
“No more water” written on the door.
I need water, but there’s none,
Definitely not having fun.
Feeling dirty!
Feeling sick!
Needing something so basic.
Water, water I need you
Then I’ll be as good as new.
Water, water always there,
Once it’s gone we’re made aware
Wasting water is not right
Now it’s gone I’ve seen the light.
I need water to survive
I’m lucky to be alive!
poem by Salvatore Mazzeo
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