On a soft shelving sandbank, to his waist in the water, 
A child leaps delighted with dolphinish gasps. 
His body and limbs, caressed by the liquid, 
Are a world in themselves of warmth and delight. 
Brightness like lightning beside him flashes 
A hoop of silver circling him round. 
Ducking down under, he rises and throws up 
Sparks and sparkles into the air, 
Till splintering sun-streaks fall down in a shower, 
Himself in the midst shaking them off. 
He shakes them off, and the memory, with them,
Flashing, outflashes its death in time.