‘Way Down the Ravi River

I wandered by the riverside, 
  To gaze upon the view,
And watched the Alligator glide 
  After the dead Hindu, 
Who stank and sank beneath the tide, 
  Then rose and stank anew.

The evening dews were falling fast, 
  The damp, unwholesome dew;
The river rippled 'neath the blast, 
  The black crow roostward flew; 
And swift the Alligator passed
  In chase of his Hindu.

And, from the margin of the tide, 
  I watched the twain that fled—
The Alligator, scaly-thighed, 
  Close pressed the flying dead,
Who gazed, with eyeballs opened wide, 
  Upward, but nothing said.

And many a time at eventide, 
  As night comes on anew,
I think upon the riverside 
  Where, gazing on the view,
I watched the Alligator glide 
  After the dead Hindu.

Choose another poem