I pause beside the stream and hear 
The waters talking all the way ; 
If I had a proper ear 
I could tell you what they say. 

The lovely tree against the sky, 
Which the first sun rests upon, 
Has a message for my eye, 
If I had a proper one. 

On the heath I met a wind, 
It whispered to me as I stood ; 
If I had a proper mind 
I could answer, so I could. 

I am deaf and dumb and blind, 
No reply can I invent 
When a stream, a tree, a wind 
Asks am I intelligent.