Poems by Hartley Coleridge With a Memoir of his Life by his Brother. In Two Volumes |
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HUMMING BIRDS. |
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 | Poems by Hartley Coleridge |  |
81
HUMMING BIRDS.
The insect birds that suck nectareous juice
From straightest tubes of curly-petaled flowers,
Or catch the honey-dew that falls profuse
Through the soft air, distill'd in viewless showers,
Whose colours seem the very souls of gems,
Or parting rays of fading diadems:—
From straightest tubes of curly-petaled flowers,
Or catch the honey-dew that falls profuse
Through the soft air, distill'd in viewless showers,
Whose colours seem the very souls of gems,
Or parting rays of fading diadems:—
I have but seen their feathers,—that is all.
As much as we can know of poets dead
Or living; but the gilded plumes that fall
Float on the earth, or in the wind dispread
Go everywhere to beautify the breeze.
Sweet wind, surcharged with treasures such as these,
As much as we can know of poets dead
Or living; but the gilded plumes that fall
Float on the earth, or in the wind dispread
Go everywhere to beautify the breeze.
Sweet wind, surcharged with treasures such as these,
I may not feel:—I never may behold
The spark of life, that trimmed in garb so bright
That flying quintessence of ruby, gold,
Mild emerald, and lucid chrysolite.
Yet am I glad that life and joy were there,
That the small creature was as blithe as fair.
The spark of life, that trimmed in garb so bright
That flying quintessence of ruby, gold,
Mild emerald, and lucid chrysolite.
Yet am I glad that life and joy were there,
That the small creature was as blithe as fair.
| Poems by Hartley Coleridge | |