The Silent Pool
Away in the wood where it’s dark,
There’s a pool that is purplish green,
With whispering rushes around,
That murmur of things they have seen.
I once lay and listened all night,
And heard why the pool lies alone;
Not even a fairy goes near
And only the sad rushes moan.
I heard how there once lived a witch,
Who weaved wicked spells night and day,
And used the pool’s purplish deeps
For things which I wouldn’t dare say.
Then one day she vanished and went,
And never was seen any more,
But silent and still lay the pool,
And darker than ever before.
No fairy knows what the pool holds,
And none guesses what secrets lie
Hid safely away in its deeps,
But shuddering, all pass it by.
Take heed when you go through the wood,
And pass where the pool lies alone—
Not even a fairy goes near,
And only the sad rushes moan!