[from Collected Works, T.E.Brown]

THE DHOON

" LEAP from the crags, brave boy!
The musing hills have kept thee long,
But they have made thee strong,
And fed thee with the fulness of their joy,
And given direction that thou might'st return
To me who yearn
At foot of this great steep —
Leap! leap ! "

So the stream leapt
Into his mother's arms,
Who wept
A space,
Then calmed her sweet alarms,
And smiled to see him as he slept,
Wrapt in that dear embrace
And with the brooding of her tepid breast
Cherished his mountain chillness—
O, then — what rest !
O, everywhere what stillness '