The Wind And The Moon

Said the Wind to the Moon, "I will blow you out!
        You stare
        In the air
        As if crying Beware,
Always looking what I am about:
I hate to be watched; I will blow you out!"

The Wind blew hard, and out went the Moon.
        So, deep
        On a heap
        Of clouds, to sleep
Down lay the Wind, and slumbered soon,
Muttering low, "I've done for that Moon!"

He turned in his bed: she was there again!
        On high
        In the sky
        With her one ghost-eye
The Moon shone white and alive and plain:
Said the Wind, "I will blow you out again!"

The Wind blew hard, and the Moon grew slim.
        "With my sledge
        And my wedge
        I have knocked off her edge!
I will blow," said the Wind, "right fierce and grim,
And the creature will soon be slimmer than slim!"

He blew and he blew, and she thinned to a thread.
        "One puff
        More's enough
        To blow her to snuff!
One good puff more where the last was bred,
And glimmer, glimmer, glum will go that thread!"

He blew a great blast, and the thread was gone.
        In the air
        Nowhere
        Was a moonbeam bare;
Larger and nearer the shy stars shone:
Sure and certain the Moon was gone!

The Wind he took to his revels once more;
        On down
        And in town,
    A merry-mad clown,
He leaped and holloed with whistle and roar--
When there was that glimmering thread once more!

He flew in a rage--he danced and blew;
        But in vain
        Was the pain
        Of his bursting brain,
For still the Moon-scrap the broader grew
The more that he swelled his big cheeks and blew.

Slowly she grew--till she filled the night,
        And shone
        On her throne
        In the sky alone
A matchless, wonderful, silvery light,
Radiant and lovely, the queen of the night.

Said the Wind, "What a marvel of power am I!
        With my breath,
        In good faith,
        I blew her to death!--
First blew her away right out of the sky,
Then blew her in: what a strength am I!"

But the Moon she knew nought of the silly affair;
        For, high
        In the sky
        With her one white eye,
Motionless miles above the air,
She never had heard the great Wind blare.