The well was dry beside the door,
And so we went with pail and can
Across the fields behind the house
To seek the brook if still it ran;

Not loath to have excuse to go,
Because the autumn eve was fair
(Though chill), because the field were ours,
And by the brook our woods were there.

We ran if to meet the moon
That slowly dawned behind the trees,
The barren bought without the leaves,
Without the birds, without the breeze.

But one within the wood, we paused
Like gnomes that hid us from the moon,
Ready to run to hiding new
With laughter when she found us soon.

Each laid on other a staying hand
To listen ere we dared to look,
And in the hush we joined to  make
We heard, we knew we heard the brook.

A note as from a single place,
A slender tinkling fall that made
Now arops that floated on the pool
Like pearls and now a silver blade.