Question and Answer

The Question

THE river is flowing,
The stars coming forth:
Great ruddy clouds going
From westward to north.

The rushes are waving,
The water’s still blue:
And I am behaving
Decorously too:

The amorous zephyr
Breathes soft in our ear:
Who hears not is deafer
Than adders, my dear:

Ah! list to the whisper
Of waters and sky!
Thames, vagabond lisper
Grows subtle and sly.

How trebly delicious
The air-draughts we quaff:
The hour is propitious:—
Oh!... why do you laugh?

THE ANSWER

Ask the sky why it flushes,
The clouds why they glow:
The weir why it gushes,
The reeds why they grow:

The moon why it rises,
The sun why it sets:
Her why she surprises,
Him why he forgets:

The star why it twinkles,
The west why it shines:
The brow why it wrinkles,
The heart why it pines:

Mankind why they blunder,
The corn why there’s chaff:
Ask yourself why you wonder—
Not me why I laugh!

J. K. Stephen.