Clattering, clattering,
Falls the wheat pattering
Into the hoppers old.
Then up it goes jolting,
Down it comes bolting,
And the warm flour is sold.

Clattering, clattering,
Grinding and pattering,
Notes that are lost on me.
The mill keeps repeating
Its musical greeting,
The water-wheel dances free.

Only the clattering
Seems a mock chattering
Of the sweet tinkling past.
And e'en the corn breaking
With a heavy bass quaking,
Falls on me dumb at last.

Clattering, clattering,
Tinkling and pattering.
Oh for the early days
When we milled together,
And I wondered whether
Fairest was wheat or maize!