And swamping the tiny shallops afloat
On the golden flood of the River.
He tore up a reed, did the Middleman,
A flourishing reed, from that River.
The troubled water turbidly ran,
And the broken reed all helpless lay
In the cunning hand which tore it away
From its root in the Golden River.
High on the shore sate the Middleman,
While turbidly flowed the River,