A SWAN and cygnets, nothing more. Background of silver, reedy shore, Dim shapes of rounded trees, the high Effulgence of a summer sky. Only a snap-shot. Just a flash, And it was fixed, -- the mimic wash, The parent bird on-oaring slow, Her fussy little fleet in tow, The all-pervading sultry haze, The white lights on the waterways, -- A scene that never was before, A scene that will be -- Nevermore! Alas! for us. We look and wait, And labour but to imitate; Vainly for new effects we seek... Earth's shortest second is unique! |