166. The Sedges

I WHISPERED my great sorrow

To every listening sedge;

And they bent, bowed with my sorrow,

Down to the water’s edge.

But she stands and laughs lightly

To see me sorrow so,

Like the light winds that laughing

Across the water go.

If I could tell the bright ones

That quiet-hearted move,

They would bend down like the sedges

With the sorrow of love.

But she stands laughing lightly,

Who all my sorrow knows,

Like the little wind that laughing

Across the water blows.