Analysis of At The Linn-Side

O LIVING, living water,
So busy and so bright,
Aye flashing in the morning beams,
And sounding through the night;
O golden-shining water--
Would God that I might be
A vocal message from His mouth
Into the world, like thee!

O merry, merry water,
Which nothing e'er affrays;
And as it pours from rock to rock
Nothing e'er stops or stays;
But past cool heathery hollows
And gloomy pools it flows;
Past crags that fain would shut it in
Leaps through--and on it goes.

O fresh'ning, sparkling water,
O voice that's never still,
Though winter lays her dead-white hand
On brae and glen and hill;
Though no leaf's left to flutter
In woods all mute and hoar,
Yet thou, O river, night and day
Thou runnest evermore.

No foul thing can pollute thee;
Thy swiftness casts aside
All ill, like a good heart and true,
However sorely tried.
O living, living water,
So fresh and bright and free--
God lead us through this changeful world
Forever pure, like thee!