A Song of Labour and Other Poems By Alexander Anderson |
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THE THRUSH. |
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| II. |
| III. |
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| X. |
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| XIV. |
| XV. |
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| XVII. |
| XVIII. |
| XIX. |
| XX. |
 | A Song of Labour and Other Poems |  |
35
THE THRUSH.
Like the songs I have heard in childhood
Comes thy voice, O thrush, to me,
And again in my heart leaps the promise
Of the sunshine that shall be:
Comes thy voice, O thrush, to me,
And again in my heart leaps the promise
Of the sunshine that shall be:
Sunshine, and joy, and splendour
To make this earth rejoice—
O the glory of being a poet
When such can come at thy voice;
To make this earth rejoice—
O the glory of being a poet
When such can come at thy voice;
For with every gush of thy music
A thrill comes down from above,
Breathing out in its softest whisper—
Come forth to your task, O love!
A thrill comes down from above,
Breathing out in its softest whisper—
Come forth to your task, O love!
Come forth, and wake up from their slumber,
In the calm of their quiet nook,
The still dead flowers—till the primrose
Sees its own sweet self in the brook;
In the calm of their quiet nook,
The still dead flowers—till the primrose
Sees its own sweet self in the brook;
Till the violet's happy presence
Peeps forth with an azure smile;
And the trees burst forth in their gladness
To a thousand buds the while;
Peeps forth with an azure smile;
And the trees burst forth in their gladness
To a thousand buds the while;
Till the earth smiles up to the heaven,
And the heaven smiles down to the earth—
O the glory of being a poet,
When thy songs call such into birth.
And the heaven smiles down to the earth—
O the glory of being a poet,
When thy songs call such into birth.
So I think this hour when I labour,
If the mission came down to me,
And my lips had the touch and the music,
I would like to sing like thee:
If the mission came down to me,
And my lips had the touch and the music,
I would like to sing like thee:
Sing in the gloom of my lifetime,
As ye sing in the youth of the year,
Till the golden future grew brighter
From the shadows around me here—
As ye sing in the youth of the year,
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From the shadows around me here—
Till the hearts of my toiling fellows,
Hearing such songs from me,
Would flush up into ampler blossom,
As at thine wake the flower and the tree.
Hearing such songs from me,
Would flush up into ampler blossom,
As at thine wake the flower and the tree.
| A Song of Labour and Other Poems | |