| |
| THIS is a magic cup | |
| That needs no lifting up, | |
| And gushes the cool drink | |
| From an ever flowing brink, | |
| From an ever filling hollow. | 5 |
| As you swallow, | |
| You can feel the water go | |
| Against your lips with tumbling flow | |
| And all its noises hear: | |
| As if you were a deer | 10 |
| Or a wild goat, | |
| Sucking the water into your throat | |
| Where a little brook goes by | |
| Under the trees and the summer sky. | |
| Oh it is fun to drink this way!— | 15 |
| Like a pleasant game to play, | |
| Not like drinking in other places; | |
| And it is fun to watch the faces | |
| That come and bend them at this urn. | |
| Something you can learn | 20 |
| Of each person’s secret mind: | |
| Know which is selfish, which is kind: | |
| Those who guard their dignity. | |
| And those whose curiosity | |
| Is turning cold. | 25 |
| Many of the young are old, | |
| And think | |
| A drink is nothing but a drink, | |
| Water is water—always the same; | |
| They could not turn it into a game. | 30 |
| Charily, with solemn mien, | |
| They lean— | |
| These incurious of heart— | |
| And hurrying depart. | |
| But the children know it’s a gay rare thing | 35 |
| To drink outdoors from a running spring; | |
| And laugh | |
| And quaff, | |
| As if their inquisitive zest | |
| Would challenge to a test | 40 |
| The bounty of this store | |
| Which gives, and still has more. | |
| They drink up all they can: | |
| Wait in turn to drink again. | |
| As I watch the reaching lips | 45 |
| It seems to be my mouth that sips: | |
| I stoop and rise with each one. | |
| But when they are done, | |
| And their faces touched with spray, | |
| They quickly wipe it away. | 50 |
| And this, sometimes, I regret,— | |
| Because their lips look prettier, wet. | |
| |
