Page:Rudyard Kipling's verse - Inclusive Edition 1885-1918.djvu/658

 640 RUDYARD KIPLING'S VERSE

SONG OF THE FIFTH RIVER

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 Whom the Rivers obey

Said to him: "Fling on the ground

A handful of yellow clay,

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,