SONG OF THE FIFTH RIVER

  _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,_ _(The ancient legends tell),_ _There came dark Israel,_ _For whom no River remained._

  _Then He That is Wholly Just,_ _Said to him: 'Fling on the ground_ _A handful of yellow dust,_ _And a Fifth Great River shall run,_ _Mightier than these Four,_ _In secret the Earth around;_ _And Her secret evermore,_ _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,_ _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_ _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;_ _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_ _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._ _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_ _As he snuffs the coming rain,_ _He knows what each will bring forth_ _And turns it to his gain._

  _A Prince without a Sword,_ _A Ruler without a Throne;_ _Israel follows his quest:--_ _In every land a guest._ _Of many lands the lord._ _In no land King is he._ _But the Fifth Great River keeps_ _The secret of her deeps_ _For Israel alone,_ _As it was ordered to be._