The Sayings of the Brook

 

I walked in the Valley as the rising dawn spoke the secret

of eternity,

And there a brook, on its course, was singing, calling and

saying:

Life is not only a merriment;

Life is Desire and Determination.

Wisdom is not in words;

Wisdom is Meaning within words.

Greatness is not in exalted position;

Greatness is for he who refuses position.

A man is not noble through ancestory;

How many noblemen are descendants of murderers?

Not everyone in chains is subdued;

At times, a chain is greater than a necklace.

Paradise is not in repentance;

Paradise is in the Pure Heart.

Hell is not in torture;

Hell is in an Empty Heart.

Riches are not in money alone;

How many Wanderers were the richest of all men?

Not all the poor are scorned;

The wealth of the world is in a loaf of bread and a cloak.

Beauty is not in the face;

Beauty is a light in the heart.

Perfection is not for the pure of soul;

There may be virtue in sin.

This is what the brook said to the tree upon its banks;

Perhaps what the brook sang was of some of the secrets

of the sea.

                                     -END-

    "The Sayings of the Brook" was written by the British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson in 1886, barely six years before he died. The poem is a chant in which the speaker (the brook, or stream itself) embarks on a lengthy and meandering trip through the countryside to meet up with a massive river at the end of the voyage. Hidden inside this innocent poetry about a bit of stream are the deeper, more tragic themes of mortality, human impermanence, and nature's apathetic attitude toward humans. Yet, the poem also underlines the natural world's breathtaking beauty. The repetition "For men may come, and men may go,  But I continue forever," which comes four times throughout the poem, depicts both the transience of human existence and the inevitability of nature, is the poem's most distinguishing feature.

    The stream itself, which serves as the poem's narrator, recounts that it began its life in a body of water where birds such as coots and herons congregate often. The creek surges forth all of a sudden. As the brook winds its way through the lush vegetation that grows beside the stream bank, the sunshine gleams off the surface of the water. After there, the creek runs softly into a valley.

    The brook gains pace as it tumbles down various hills and seeps through small holes in the sides of some of the hillslopes. The stream goes through numerous villages and a small town on its route to the sea, and it runs under a slew of bridges.

    Finally, the brook passes through a property owned by a man called Philip before reaching its destination. The stream is on its way to being swallowed by the river, which is currently enormous and overflowing with water. Even if people have brief and transient lives, the brook asserts that it will always support them.

    Picking up the pace of its return voyage, the stream rushes along stone walkways and streets, creating a musical sound as it pours over the rocks. It then tumbles over the little stones that border the coast or are at the bay's bottom as the brook pools into bays packed with churning water.

    As it goes through the countryside, the brook twists around the stream bank and passes through several meadows and plots of farmland, some of which are in use and others which have been allowed to rest. It also runs beside terrain that seems to belong to fairies, with a landscape studded with green leafy plants and exquisite petals and through a forest.

    As it rushes along, the brook produces little trickling sounds as it makes its way to the already overflowing river. The stream serves as a constant reminder to the listener that human life is transient, but the brook itself is timeless.

   The creek meanders across the countryside, zigzagging up and down the slopes of the mountains. In addition, it points out a flower that is floating along with its waters as well as a few extremely hardy trout and several graylings, which are freshwater fish.

    As it does its way to the river, the brook's water sometimes foams and bubbles up into the air. The surface of the brook sometimes generates little waves that crash melodically on top of the stones and sand that lie under the level of the water in the stream bed.

    As it rushes to link up with the great river, the rushing stream carries stones, flower petals, and fish with it in its wake. In contrast to people's brief and transient existence on earth, the brook will continue to flow unabated with no end in sight.

    The stream meanders through meadows and fields that are blanketed with grass, and it glides between thickly planted hazel trees that provide shade for the surrounding environment. It is said that these specific wildflowers are suited for lovers who are blissfully in love since the flowing water nudges wildflowers called forget-me-nots that grow along the stream bank.

    The brook depicts how it runs slowly and silently, sometimes seeming dark and murky in appearance. At other times, the light playfully bounces off of the stream's surface, creating a beautiful effect (or perhaps the stream bounces off of the riverbank). Meanwhile, swallows, which are tiny birds that hunt for food, are barely visible over the water's surface. It seems that the sunshine is dancing on the surface of the brook's sandy, shallow water as it passes through the vegetation that surrounds it. Reflecting off a moving character, the sunlight appears to be dancing on the brook's sandy, shallow water as it passes through the greenery.

    While traveling through a grove of thorny plants throughout the night, the water creates low, soft noises as it moves across the landscape. When the stream gets to a sandbank that is piled high with small stones, it slows down and spends another leisurely period swirling about the leafy greens (such as watercress) that thrive in the shallow waters of the creek.

    The brook is on its way to join the large river once again, and it is weaving its way through the forest. The stream serves as a gentle reminder to listeners that, although individuals are born and die, the brook is everlasting.

    The central issue of the poem is the nature of human existence and death.

Source: 

• https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/the-sayings-of-the-brook-by-gibran