Boy, do you know where it runs to sea?
Brown little girl, do you?
Runaway river, laughing and free,
Dappled and warm and blue?
Follow the curve of the meadow there
Over the hill, and then,
Where the marsh lilies droop in the careless wind
Look to the south again.
There you will see it running away;
Ah, it is bold and free!
Never a truant so brave has been
Never so brave will be;
Running away, with never a care
If all of the blossoming trees
Cry, “Wait, little river, stay here a while,”
Reaching their arms to tease.
Bad little shadows, who long to roam
Slip in its depths to hide
Good little ones, who are happy at home,
Sleep in the reeds at its side;
Runaway river, laughing and free,
Dappled and warm and blue
Boy, do you know where it runs to sea?
Brown little girl, do you?”
