Vigil and vision New Sonnets by John Payne |
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THE DEATH OF THE WOOD-WARBLER. |
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 | Vigil and vision |  |
THE DEATH OF THE WOOD-WARBLER.
I read to-day how one, who loved birds well,Lit erst upon a little wild wood-wren,
That, old and solitary, in a glen
Among the trees beside a spring did dwell;
How friendship betwixt man and bird befell,
Till it, at last, its fear forgot of men,
Slept on his hand, contented, and how then
He found it later dead beside the well.
Ah, what a homily to humankind
This preacheth, that had been joy's very spright
And old and lonely grown, no whit repined
For pleasant life fordone and day fall'n night,
But, poet-like, 'spite age and solitude,
Piped on till death, in cheer and courage good!
| Vigil and vision | |