SONG OF THE RIVER

• Posted by Jay Olson February 29, 2012 - #  - 620 views

  The snow melts on the mountain
  And the water runs down to the spring,
  And the spring in a turbulent fountain,
  With a song of youth to sing,
  Runs down to the riotous river,
  And the river flows on to the sea,
  And the water again
  Goes back in rain
  To the hills where it used to be.
  And I wonder if Life's deep mystery
  Isn't much like the rain and the snow
  Returning through all eternity
  To the places it used to know.

  For life was born on the lofty heights
  And flows in a laughing stream
  To the river below
  Whose onward flow
  Ends in a peaceful dream.
  And so at last,
  When our life has passed
  And the river has run its course,
  It again goes back,
  O'er the selfsame track,
  To the mountain which was its source.

  So why prize life
  Or why fear death,
  Or dread what is to be?
  The river ran its allotted span
  Till it reached the silent sea.
  Then the water harked back to the mountaintop
  To begin its course once more.

  So we shall run the course begun
  Till we reach the silent shore,
  Then revisit earth in a pure rebirth
  From the heart of the virgin snow.
  So don't ask why we live or die,
  Or wither, or when we go,
  Or wonder about the mysteries
  That only God may know.

  by William Randolph Hearst