Why is the cuckoo's melody preferred, And nightingale's rich songs so madly praised In poets' rhymes! Is there no other bird Of Nature's minstrelsy, that oft hath raised One's heart to ecstasy and mirth as well? I judge not how another's taste is caught, With mine are other birds that bear the bell, Whose song hath crowds of happy memories brought: -- Such the wood robin, singing in the dell; And little wren, that many a time hath sought Shelter from showers, in huts, where I did dwell In early spring, the tenant of the plain, Tending my sheep; and still they come to tell The happy stories of the past again. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON A DEAD CHILD by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES THE HARVEST MOON; SONNET by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW MY BED IS A BOAT by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON HIS EXCELLENCY GENERAL WASHINGTON by PHILLIS WHEATLEY |