Poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Water

The water understands
Civilization well;
It wets my foot, but prettily,
It chills my life, but wittily,
It is not disconcerted,
It is not broken-hearted:
Well used, it decketh joy,
Adorneth, doubleth joy:
Ill used, it will destroy,
In perfect time and measure
With a face of golden pleasure
Elegantly destroy.

1. To Ellen at the South
2. Hamatreya
3. Woodnotes I
4. The Rhodora
5. Berrying

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