What spirit moves the quiring nightingales To utter forth their notes so soft and clear? What purport hath their music, which prevails At midnight, thrilling all the darken'd air? 'Tis said, some weeks before the hen-birds land Upon our shores, their tuneful mates appear; And, in that space, by hope and sorrow spann'd, Their sweetest melodies 'tis ours to hear; And is it so? for solace till they meet, Does this most perfect chorus charm the grove? Do these wild voices, round me and above, Of amorous forethought and condolence treat? Well may such lays be sweetest of the sweet, That aim to fill the intervals of Love! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE WORD OF AN ENGINEER by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON VERSES OCCASIONED BY THE SUDDEN DRYING UP..ST.PATRICK'S WELL by JONATHAN SWIFT CELESTIAL HEIGHTS by ALFRED AUSTIN THE TIME IS GONE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN |