I come from haunts of coot and hern, br I make a sudden sally br And sparkle out among the fern, br To bicker down a valley. br br By thirty hills I hurry down, br Or slip between the ridges, br By twenty thorpes, a little town, br And half a hundred bridges. br br Till last by Philip's farm I flow br To join the brimming river, br For men may come and men may go, br But I go on for ever. br br I chatter over stony ways, br In little sharps and trebles, br I bubble into eddying bays, br I babble on the pebbles. br br With many a curve my banks I fret br By many a field and fallow, br And many a fairy foreland set br With willow-weed and mallow. br br I chatter, chatter, as I flow br To join the brimming river, br For men may come and men may go, br But I go on for ever. br br I wind about, and in and out, br With here a blossom sailing, br And here and there a lusty trout, br And here and there a grayling, br br And here and there a foamy flake br Upon me, as I travel br With many a silvery waterbreak br Above the golden gravel, br br And draw them all along, and flow br To join the brimming river br For men may come and men may go, br But I go on for ever. br br I steal by lawns and grassy plots, br I slide by hazel covers; br I move the sweet forget-me-nots br That grow for happy lovers. br br I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance, br Among my skimming swallows; br I make the netted sunbeam dance br Against my sandy shallows. br br I murmur under moon and stars br In brambly wildernesses; br I linger by my shingly bars; br I loiter round my cresses; br br And out again I curve and flow br To join the brimming river, br For men may come and men may go, br But I go on for ever.