The River

    I came from the sunny valleys And sought for the open sea, For I thought in its gray expanses My peace would come to me.

    I came at last to the ocean And found it wild and black, And I cried to the windless valleys, "Be kind and take me back！"

    But the thirsty tide ran inland, And the salt waves drank of me, And I who was fresh as the rainfall Am bitter¹ as the sea.