1."How does the water
Come down at Lodore?" My little boy asked meThus once on a time;And,moreover,he tasked meTtell him in rhyme.
2.Anon at the word,There first came one daughter,And then came another,Tsecond and third。The request of their brother,And thear how the waterComes down at Lodore,With its rush and its roar,As many a time They had seen it before.
3.SI told them in rhyme,For of rhymes I had store,And 't was in my vocation For their recreationThat sI should sing;Because I was LaureateTthem and the King.
4.From its sources which well In the tarn1 on the fell2;From its fountainsIn the mountains,Its rills and its gills3;Through moss and through brake,It runs and it creepsFor a while,till it sleeps In its own little lake.
5.And thence at departing,Awakening and starting,It runs through the reeds,And away it proceeds,Through meadow and glade,In sun and in shade,And through the wood shelter,Among crags in its flurry,Helter-skelter,Hurry-skurry.
6.Here it comes sparkling,And there it lies darkling;Now smoking and frothing Its tumult and wrath in,Till,in this rapid race1 Tarn,a small lake among the mountains. 2 Fell ,a stony hill.3 Gills,brooks.On which it is bent,It reaches the placeOf its steep descent.
7.The cataract strong Then plunges along,Striking and raging As if a war wagingIts caverns and rocks among;
8.Rising and leaping,Sinking and creeping,Swelling and sweeping,Showering and springing,Flying and flinging,Writhing and ringing,Eddying and whisking,Spouting and frisking,Turning and twisting,Around and around With endless rebound;Smiting and fighting,A sight tdelight in;Confounding,astounding,Dizzying,and deafening the ear with its sound9.Collecting,projecting,Receding and speeding,And shocking and rocking,And darting and parting,And threading and spreading,And whizzing and hissing,And dripping and skipping,And hitting and splitting,And shining and twining,And rattling and battling,And shaking and quaking,And pouring and roaring,And waving and raving,And tossing and crossing,And guggling and struggling,And heaving and cleaving,And moaning and groaning,And glittering and frittering,And gathering and feathering,And whitening and brightening,And quivering and shivering,And hurrying and skurrying,And thundering and floundering;10.Dividing and gliding and sliding,And falling and brawling1 and sprawling,And driving and riving2 and striving,And sprinkling and twinkling and wrinkling;11.And thumping and plumping and bumping and jumping,And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing;And snever ending,but always descending,Sounds and motions forever and ever are blending,All at once and all o'er,with a mighty uproar,And this way the water comes down at Lodore.