| |
| WHEN first by Eden Tree, | |
| The Four Great Rivers ran, | |
| To each was appointed a Man | |
| Her Prince and Ruler to be. | |
| |
| But after this was ordained, | 5 |
| (The ancient legends tell), | |
| There came dark Israel, | |
| For whom no Rirer remained. | |
| |
| Then He Whom the Rivers obey | |
| Said to him: “Fling on the ground | 10 |
| A handful of yellow clay, | |
| And a Fifth Great River shall run, | |
| Mightier than these Four, | |
| In secret the Earth around; | |
| And Her secret evermore, | 15 |
| Shall be shown to thee and thy Race.” | |
| |
| So it was said and done. | |
| And, deep in the veins of Earth, | |
| And, fed by a thousand springs | |
| That comfort the market-place, | 20 |
| Or sap the power of Kings, | |
| The Fifth Great River had birth, | |
| Even as it was foretold— | |
| The Secret River of Gold! | |
| |
| And Israel laid down | 25 |
| His sceptre and his crown, | |
| To brood on that River bank, | |
| Where the waters flashed and sank, | |
| And burrowed in earth and fell, | |
| And bided a season below, | 30 |
| For reason that none might know, | |
| Save only Israel. | |
| |
| He is Lord of the Last— | |
| The Fifth, most wonderful, Flood. | |
| He hears Her thunder past | 35 |
| And Her Song is in his blood. | |
| He can foresay: “She will fall,” | |
| For he knows which fountain dries | |
| Behind which desert-belt | |
| A thousand leagues to the South. | 40 |
| |
| He can foresay: “She will rise.” | |
| He knows what far snows melt: | |
| Along what mountain-wall | |
| A thousand leagues to the North. | |
| He snuffs the coming drouth | 45 |
| As he snuffs the coming rain, | |
| He knows what each will bring forth, | |
| And turns it to his gain. | |
| |
| A Ruler without a Throne, | |
| A Prince without a Sword, | 50 |
| Israel follows his quest. | |
| In every land a guest, | |
| Of many lands a lord, | |
| In no land King is he. | |
| But the Fifth Great River keeps | 55 |
| The secret of Her deeps | |
| For Israel alone, | |
| As it was ordered to be. | |
| |
