 | Birds, Bees and Blossoms |  |
47
THE NIGHTINGALE.
To hear the Nightingale's sweet lay,
Go listen in the moonlight hours,
When 'neath the overhanging spray
You cannot see the folded flowers;
For it is then a pleasant time
To hear that ancient minstrel's rhyme.
Go listen in the moonlight hours,
When 'neath the overhanging spray
You cannot see the folded flowers;
For it is then a pleasant time
To hear that ancient minstrel's rhyme.
Oh, how it cheers the woodland gloom,
And gives a voice unto the night!
The fragrance from the hidden bloom
Comes on us like a new delight;
And the calm clouds upon the sky
Like flocks at rest appear to lie.
And gives a voice unto the night!
The fragrance from the hidden bloom
Comes on us like a new delight;
And the calm clouds upon the sky
Like flocks at rest appear to lie.
The Guider of the morning star
Drives quicker up the opening east,
And leaning from his golden car,
His ear with melody doth feast;
Before the rosy gates of day
Swing wide, and scareth thee away.
Drives quicker up the opening east,
And leaning from his golden car,
His ear with melody doth feast;
Before the rosy gates of day
Swing wide, and scareth thee away.
And that sweet song was heard on earth
When long-haired Eve in Eden dwelt;
Ere Sin to Death had given birth;
When Cain in innocence still knelt,
With folded hands each morn to pray,
By Abel's side at dawn of day.
When long-haired Eve in Eden dwelt;
Ere Sin to Death had given birth;
When Cain in innocence still knelt,
With folded hands each morn to pray,
By Abel's side at dawn of day.
48
Spring treads upon the skirt of June;
When Summer comes in darker green,
Then we no longer hear that tune,
The Nightingale is nowhere seen;
For she doth make but little stay—
A few sweet songs, and then away.
When Summer comes in darker green,
Then we no longer hear that tune,
The Nightingale is nowhere seen;
For she doth make but little stay—
A few sweet songs, and then away.
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