Towards democracy

504 Towards Democracy

Jesus Christ) upon the flood, paddling quickly over the sur face with its half-webbed feet ;

And the may-fly practises for the millionth time the miracle of the resurrection, floating up an ungainly grub from the mud below, and in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye (even from the jaws of the baffled trout) emerging, an aerial fairy with pearl-green wings ;

And the caddis-fly from its quaint disguise likewise emerges ;

And the bee, as ever, hums, and the butterfly floats, and the little winged beauty with shining mail of crimson and blue —the ruby-tail—searches in and out of every crevice and shink for a suitable place for her eggs;

And the early daffodil and narcissus from the garden stray forward to peer into thy mirror; and the wild garlic in the shade, and in the sun the king-cups, fringe thy margin ;

And the prick-eared earth-people, the rabbits, in the stillness Of early morning play beside thee undisturbed, while the level sunbeams yet grope through the dewy grass;

And the land-rail cranes its neck, to peer and peep from its cover ;

And the weasel canters by on its quest, and the loosejointed fox returning from a foray ;

And the squirrel on a tree-root—its tail stretched far behind—leans forward to kiss thee,

Little brook,

For so many things love thee,