sparkle => twinkle?
I like the old version of 《Big River》better for the space left for interpretation/imagination. :)
BTW, "cool-cheeked" in that poem by William Alexander Percy may simply mean the lad's cheeks feel cool, but I wonder if the poet might not have also intended to say the lad is (像草一樣) "沒心沒肺/無憂無慮”。 The poet is widely believed to be gay, and this side of him just might have shown through a bit in this poem.