What part of life is hiding Is painted forever on the marked skins of beasts, And in the clashing feathers of wild birds. Dappled with the black of shadow And the fierce tones that die in sunlight, These wear forever in their clothing The secret of their habitation. The gaudy pheasant is lost in his thicket, When noon is stippled orange on black with a green necklace, And the jewelled scarlet of the cardinal Sleeps beside the red burst Of the trumpet vine, Touched with diamonds of the sun. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AND WHAT SHALL YOU SAY? by JOSEPH SEAMON COTTER JR. SONGS FOR THE PEOPLE by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER PASA THALASSA THALASSA by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON THE TRIUMPH OF TIME by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 83 by ALFRED TENNYSON ETHIOPIA SALUTING THE COLORS by WALT WHITMAN FOOTLIGHT MOTIFS: 3. GABY DESLYS by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS AUNT FANNY; A LEGEND OF A SHIRT by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM HINC LACHRIMAE; OR THE AUTHOR TO AURORA: 1 by WILLIAM BOSWORTH |