Barbarians

I PAUSE beside the stream and hear The waters talking all the way ; If I had a proper ear I could tell you what they say.

The lovely tree against the sky, Which the first sun rests upon, Has a message for my eye, If I had a proper one.

On the heath I met a wind, It whispered to me as I stood ; If I had a proper mind I could answer, so I could.

I am deaf and dumb and blind, No reply can I invent When a stream, a tree, a wind Asks am I intelligent.