01.42. Excerpt9 - A Talk at the Wellside

Excerpt9 - A Talk at the Wellside

She came to the well - ’twas her custom,
With waterpot, burden, and care;
Came at noonday so no one would see her,
And found just a Stranger sat there.

He asked for a drink of well-water.
(How deep her need only He knew!)
She asked, "Can a Samaritan woman
Give drink to a thirsty young Jew?"

He said, "You should have living water
That needeth no earthenware pot."
She gazed with a wide-eyed amazement
And wondered what secret He’d got.

She said, "Art Thou greater than Jacob,
Our father, who gave us the well?"
She stayed, and she listened enraptured
To all that the Stranger could tell.

He said, "Thou dost draw of this water,
But comest again and again;
I can give thee the life-giving Water
And in thee a well will remain!"

She answered, "Oh give me this water!"
But hardly did she understand.
He said to the woman bewildered,
"Away, and call thy husband."

She started this deep conversation
And secretly wished she could stop it,
For now, to her great consternation,
She found that this Man was a prophet.

Before, she had talked at the wellside
And often enjoyed the short tryst;
But knew not on this great occasion
She talked with the Savior, the Christ.

She said, "When Messias cometh,
How wonderful He will be!
For He shall tell us of all things."
He answered, "I, Woman, am He."

Away to the city to tell it,
The news that could never be priced:
"Oh come, hear a Man Who knows all things!
I found Him, and He is the Christ."