His poem is about a brook that has been personified and presented as a human being. The poet has sketched out a vivid resemblance between the path of the brook and the life of man. Just as the brook passes different hurdles and scenes on the way to its destination, so does man experience various things in his journey throughout life. But, mans journey ends with death, whereas the brook lives on and defeats time and death.
In the first stanza, the poet describes the starting point of the brook. It starts from a place that is inhabited by birds like heron and coot. At this point, the brook is full of energy as it gushes out and enters a field full of fern, only to further move down the valley. The brook says that it hurries down thirty hills, many ridges that it meets on its way down, villages, towns and bridges. The numbers have been used here to denote a vast number of things.Next, the brook flows past a farm, owned by Philip, to join the river that is already full of water. Here, the brook proudly says that it has outlived time and life. It says that many a men have come and gone, but the brook keeps moving. It cannot be defeated by time or death.The brook continues describing its journey. It has to move over rough terrain, with sharp turns, making a high pitched sound sometimes, while babbling at other times. It happily flows through the countryside, which is full of vegetation and looks beautiful. It flows on chattering on its way to its final destination, the river. Here again, it does not forget to remind us that it has outlived time and death.As the brook continues on its journey, it is joined by a beautiful companion, a flower. It is happy to have someone—fish like a trout and a grayling—to carry and further along the way. While on its way, the brook encounters certain hurdles, but it does not stop. It gushes along creating bubbles that shine in the sunshine. Yet again the brook boasts that men may come and go with time, but the brook will continue its journey.Now the brook flows along lawns and grassy plots where lovely flowers grow. It gladly carries the flowers along with it, thus carrying the message of love. It dances on its way to meet the river, murmuring at night and singing during the day. There is no break in the journey as it moves through the wilderness. As the brook unites with the river, it mocks the humans because they are consumed by time and death, whereas the brook lives eternally.
