Drop by drop the lit-tle rill
Feeds the lim-pid stream be-low,
Gleam-ing, spark-ling down the hill,
Till it joins the riv-er's flow.
* * *
Drop by drop the whole night long;
Drop by drop the long night through,
Sing-ing low and soft its song;
Leaps the rill, in meas-ure true.
* * *
Drop by drop like gems of light,
Danc-ing where the sun-beams play,
Grows the stream-let clear and bright,
Where the sweet ferns line the way.
* * *
Like a mol-ten sil-ver tide
Led by fai-ries, here and there;
Now by rug-ged moun-tain side;
Now by pas-ture green and fair.
[Illustration: THE LITTLE RILL.]