 | Sonnets by the Rev. Charles Turner [i.e. Charles Tennyson] |  |
63
NIGHTINGALES.
What spirit moves the quiring nightingalesTo utter forth their notes so soft and clear?
What purport hath their music, which prevails
At midnight, thrilling all the darkened 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!
| Sonnets by the Rev. Charles Turner [i.e. Charles Tennyson] | |