Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems By the Lady E. Stuart Wortley. In Three Vols |
 | I, II, III. |
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TO THE NIGTINGALE. |
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 | Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems |  |
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TO THE NIGTINGALE.
How, Nightingale! how thy rich bursts of voiceMake this heart pant, and tremble, and rejoice;
Its bounding pulses thou canst captive take,
But more than this, sweet wizard, thou can'st make
The many wingēd air thy prisoner,
That scarcely round thee seems to breathe or stir;
But in a charmed and changeless hush to lie,
Brooding about thee, listening lovingly—
Thou smoothest down the harsh World with thy strain;
And when the stars come forth—a glorious train—
Thou wedd'st thy music to their hallow'd light,
As thou wouldst make that World (in the Angels' sight,)
More worthy seem of that high company—
Bird, of a thousand songs!—deep gushing free,
'Tis well that one rich strain of concord deep,
Should rise from out its hardened heart to keep,
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Which pours forth praise where doth all praise belong—
That mighty Song—that everlasting strain,
Which we, unworthy still, to join—remain.
| Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems | |