O DEAR one, with tawny wings, Dearest of singing things, Whose hymns my company have been, Thou art come, thou art found, thou art seen! Bid, with the music of thy voice, Sweet-sounding rustler, the heart rejoice; Ah! louder, louder, louder sing, Flute out the language of the spring; Nay, let those low notes rest, Oh! my nightingale, nightingale, carol thine anapaest! Come, my companion, cease from thy slumbers, Pour out thy holy and musical numbers, Sing and lament with a sweet throat divine, Itys of many tears, thy son and mine! Cry out, and quiver, and shake, dusky throat, Throb with the thrill of thy liquidest note. Through the wide country and mournfully through Leafy-haired branches and boughs of the yew, Widens and rises the echo until Even the throne-room of God it shall fill. Then, when Apollo, the bright-locked, hath heard, Lo, he shall answer thine elegy, bird, Playing his ivory seven-stringed lyre, Standing a God in the high Gods' quire. Ay, bird, not he alone: Hark! from immortal throats arise Diviner threnodies That sound and swoon in a celestial moan And answer back thine own. Come, my companion, cease from thy slumbers, Pour out thy holy and musical numbers, Sing and lament with a sweet throat divine, Itys of many tears, thy son and mine! Cry out, and quiver, and shake, dusky throat, Throb with the thrill of thy liquidest note. Through the wide country and mournfully through Leafy-haired branches and boughs of the yew, Widens and rises the echo, until Even the throne-room of God it shall fill! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DANTE by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT AT A LUNAR ECLIPSE by THOMAS HARDY DEWEY AT MANILA [MAY 1, 1898] by ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON ODE TO DUTY by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH THE FRONTIER GUARD by ANTON ALEXANDER VON AUERSPERG THE ORPHAN'S COMPLAINT by ANNABEL HANNA BANES |