 | The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer |  |
289
THE SWALLOW.
“La Rondinella, sopra il nido allegra,
Cantando salutava il nuovo giorno.”
Cantando salutava il nuovo giorno.”
“The swallow is one of my favorite birds, and a rival of the nightingale; for he glads my sense of seeing, as the other does my sense of hearing.”—
Sir H. Davy.
Warm, cloudless days have brought a blithe new-comer,
Beloved by young and old,
That twitters out a welcome unto summer,
Arrayed in green and gold.
Beloved by young and old,
That twitters out a welcome unto summer,
Arrayed in green and gold.
With sunlight on his plume, the happy swallow
Is darting swiftly by,
As if with shaft dismissed by bright Apollo
His speed he fain would try.
Is darting swiftly by,
As if with shaft dismissed by bright Apollo
His speed he fain would try.
Now high above yon steeple wheels the rover,
In many a sportive ring;
Anon, the glassy lakelet skimming over,
He dips his dusky wing.
In many a sportive ring;
Anon, the glassy lakelet skimming over,
He dips his dusky wing.
Old nests yet hang, though marred by winter's traces,
To rafter, beam and wall,
And his fond mate, to ancient breeding-places,
Comes at his amorous call.
To rafter, beam and wall,
And his fond mate, to ancient breeding-places,
Comes at his amorous call.
Those mud-built domes were dear to me in childhood,
With feathers soft inlaid;
Dearer than nests whose builders in the wild-wood
Were birds of man afraid.
With feathers soft inlaid;
Dearer than nests whose builders in the wild-wood
Were birds of man afraid.
To seedy floors of barns in thought I wander,
When swallows glad my sight,
And play with comrades in the church-yard yonder,
Shut out from air and light.
When swallows glad my sight,
And play with comrades in the church-yard yonder,
Shut out from air and light.
The “guests of summer” in and out are flying
Their mansions to repair,
While on the fragrant hay together lying,
We bid adieu to care.
Their mansions to repair,
While on the fragrant hay together lying,
We bid adieu to care.
290
Barns that they haunt no thunder-bolt can shatter,
Full many a hind believes;
No showers that bring a blighting mildew patter
Upon the golden sheaves.
Full many a hind believes;
No showers that bring a blighting mildew patter
Upon the golden sheaves.
Taught were our fathers that a curse would follow,
Beyond expression dread,
The cruel farmer who destroyed the swallow
That builded in his shed.
Beyond expression dread,
The cruel farmer who destroyed the swallow
That builded in his shed.
Oh! how I envied, in the school-house dreary,
The swallow's freedom wild,
Cutting the wind on pinion never weary,
Cleaving the clouds up-piled.
The swallow's freedom wild,
Cutting the wind on pinion never weary,
Cleaving the clouds up-piled.
And when the bird and his blithe mate beholding
Abroad in airy race,
Their evolutions filled my soul unfolding
With images of grace.
Abroad in airy race,
Their evolutions filled my soul unfolding
With images of grace.
And, oh! what rapture, after wintry chidings,
And April's smile and tear,
Thrilled to the core my bosom at the tidings,
“The swallow, boy, is here!”
And April's smile and tear,
Thrilled to the core my bosom at the tidings,
“The swallow, boy, is here!”
Announcement of an angel on some mission
Of love without alloy,
Could not have sooner wakened a transition
From gloom to heart-felt joy.
Of love without alloy,
Could not have sooner wakened a transition
From gloom to heart-felt joy.
For summer to the dreaming youth a heaven
Of bliss and beauty seems,
And in her sunshine less of earthly leaven
Clings to our thoughts and dreams.
Of bliss and beauty seems,
And in her sunshine less of earthly leaven
Clings to our thoughts and dreams.
In honor of the bird, with vain endeavor,
Why lengthen out my lay?
By Shakespeare's art he is embalmed forever,
Enshrined in song by Gray.
Why lengthen out my lay?
By Shakespeare's art he is embalmed forever,
Enshrined in song by Gray.
| The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer | |