THE nightingale I had not heard, Though charmed by many another bird; If no one tells me it is her, How shall I know whose voice is near? She sings, I'm told, in some dark wood, Ten yards of moonlight from the road. This night, as I go forth alone, Before the month of June has gone, What voice is this among the trees, So startling sweet? The matchless ease, The passion, power that will not fail -- The nightingale! The nightingale! I ask no man what bird is this, The singer of such pain and bliss; All other birds sing from their throats, But from her heart come this bird's notes: To them I give my common cheers, But you, my love, I thank with tears. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A SOLILOQUY; OCCASIONED BY THE CHIRPING OF A GRASSHOPPER by WALTER HARTE BELISARIUS by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW VERSES WRITTEN IN AN ALBUM OF A LADY'S COMMON-PLACE BOOK by THOMAS MOORE VALENTINES TO MY MOTHER: 1878 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 4. LOVESIGHT by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI TO THE FOUR COURTS, PLEASE by JAMES STEPHENS PATROLING BARNEGAT by WALT WHITMAN |