Now, let's break the poem down just a bit. If memory serves, this poem originally appeared as a song sung by a character in the Reverend's book entitled, "The Water-Babies". The gravity of the song, in my opinion, is best understood when you read the book and are able to understand the full context as a result. For the purposes of this blog, however, we'll just be doing a basic analysis using only the connotation and symbolism.