The Reliquary By Bernard and Lucy Barton. With A Prefatory Appeal for Poetry and Poets |
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| II. |
TO A ROBIN IN AUTUMN. |
 | The Reliquary |  |
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TO A ROBIN IN AUTUMN.
Sweet is the cuckoo's blithesome lay
Which hails the coming spring,
Or sky-lark's when at break of day
He soars on fearless wing.
Which hails the coming spring,
Or sky-lark's when at break of day
He soars on fearless wing.
Sweet are the melodies that burst
From summer's leafy bowers,
'Mid blossoms gay by sunshine nurst
In bright and cloudless hours.
From summer's leafy bowers,
'Mid blossoms gay by sunshine nurst
In bright and cloudless hours.
And richer still, in woody lane
Pour'd to the Moon's pale light
Is Philomela's joyous strain
Heard in the hush of night.
Pour'd to the Moon's pale light
Is Philomela's joyous strain
Heard in the hush of night.
But sweeter to my partial ear,
When these no more are known,
When leaves are changing, flowers are sere,
Mild melodist—thine own.
When these no more are known,
When leaves are changing, flowers are sere,
Mild melodist—thine own.
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Thy warbling in the year's decline
Wakes thoughts of deeper birth,
Feelings that own a holier shrine
Than music born of mirth.
Wakes thoughts of deeper birth,
Feelings that own a holier shrine
Than music born of mirth.
Hence when the birds of summer seek
For home some brighter clime
To me thy artless measures speak
Of harmony sublime.
For home some brighter clime
To me thy artless measures speak
Of harmony sublime.
E'en of that melody of heart
The Christian knows within,
Which faith, and hope, and love impart
To souls redeem'd from sin.
The Christian knows within,
Which faith, and hope, and love impart
To souls redeem'd from sin.
Such mark, unmoved, around them fade
Joy's flowers, of beauty brief,
And hopes like trees which cast their shade,
Change, and then shed their leaf.
Joy's flowers, of beauty brief,
And hopes like trees which cast their shade,
Change, and then shed their leaf.
And many a friend once lov'd, enjoy'd,
Like summer birds are gone,
Whose absence leaves an aching void
While lingering here alone.
Like summer birds are gone,
Whose absence leaves an aching void
While lingering here alone.
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Still unto such at times are given
Glad songs of grateful praise,
Meek hopes which seek their home in heaven,
And faith in brighter days.
Glad songs of grateful praise,
Meek hopes which seek their home in heaven,
And faith in brighter days.
Nor can death's wintry chill restrain
Their song, or check their wing,
Those notes shall be resumed again
In heaven's eternal spring.
Their song, or check their wing,
Those notes shall be resumed again
In heaven's eternal spring.
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