| |
| WHY look the distant mountains | |
| So gloomy and so drear? | |
| Are rain clouds passing o’er them, | |
| Or is the tempest near? | |
| No shadow of the tempest | 5 |
| Is there, nor wind nor rain— | |
| ’Tis Charon that is passing by, | |
| With all his gloomy train. | |
| |
| The young men march before him, | |
| In all their strength and pride; | 10 |
| The tender little infants, | |
| They totter by his side; | |
| The old men walk behind him, | |
| And earnestly they pray— | |
| Both old and young imploring him | 15 |
| To grant some brief delay. | |
| |
| ‘O Charon! halt, we pray thee, | |
| Beside some little town, | |
| Or near some sparkling fountain, | |
| Where the waters wimple down! | 20 |
| The old will drink and be refreshed, | |
| The young the disc will fling, | |
| And the tender little children | |
| Pluck flowers beside the spring.’ | |
| |
| ‘I will not stay my journey, | 25 |
| Nor halt by any town, | |
| Near any sparkling fountain, | |
| Where the waters wimple down: | |
| The mothers coming to the well | |
| Would know the babes they bore, | 30 |
| The wives would clasp their husbands, | |
| Nor could I part them more.’ | |
| |
