The force that through the green fuse drives the flower Drives my green age; that blasts the root of trees It’s my destroyer And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose My youth is bent by the same wintry fever
The force that drives the water through the rocks Drives my red blood; that dries the mouthing streams Turns mine to wax And I am dumb to mouth unto my veins How at the mountains spring the same mouth sucks
The hand that whirls the water - in the pool Stirs the quicksand; that ropes - the blowing wind And I am dumb to tell - the hanging man How oft my clay is made - the hangman's line
The lips of time leech to the fountains head Love drips and gathers; but the fallen blood Shall calm her sores And I am dumb to tell a weathers wind How time has ticked a heaven round the stars And i am dumb to tell the lovers tomb Now at my sheet goes the same crooked worm