Living Waters

Caroline S. Spencer

THERE are some hearts like wells, green-mossed and deep

As ever Summer saw;

And cool their water is,—yea, cool and sweet;—

But you must come to draw.

They hoard not, yet they rest in calm content,

And not unsought will give;

They can be quiet with their wealth unspent,

So self-contained they live.

And there are some like springs, that bubbling burst

To follow dusty ways,

And run with offered cup to quench his thirst

Where the tired traveller strays;

That never ask the meadows if they want

What is their joy to give;—

Unasked, their lives to other life they grant,

So self-bestowed they live!

And One is like the ocean, deep and wide,

Wherein all waters fall;

That girdles the broad earth, and draws the tide,

Feeding and bearing all;

That broods the mists, that sends the clouds abroad,

That takes, again to give;—

Even the great and loving heart of God,

Whereby all love doth live.