DAVID BEFORE SAUL

From “The Witch of Endor”

Down by the stream of the waters

Came the king; and his face was sad,

Sad with a grief beyond belief,

For a bitter grief he had:

To be a king means sorrowing —

A king may not be glad.

Down by the stream of the waters

Came the king, and alone at night;

His robe was torn, a crown of thorn

Was on his brow so white:

They placed it there, who did not care

His eyes with tears were bright.

Down by the stream of the waters,

Where it flows through the valley of death,

He came, the king, all sorrowing;

A sob was in his breath:

They broke his heart, who stood apart —

The crowd that wondereth.