 | Poems at Home and Abroad |  |
70
The Chiff-Chaff
Lithe of body, dusk of hue,
Little courier of the sun,
We have waited long for you.
Flower-time, shower-time has begun.
Larch is greening everywhere,
Birch-tree fragrance fills the air.
Little courier of the sun,
We have waited long for you.
Flower-time, shower-time has begun.
Larch is greening everywhere,
Birch-tree fragrance fills the air.
Poet, welcome to the west,
Ranging from your Asian grove
To the ‘Islands of the blest,’
To the land of food and love,
Tell us prithee how you found
Your remembered mating ground.
Ranging from your Asian grove
To the ‘Islands of the blest,’
To the land of food and love,
Tell us prithee how you found
Your remembered mating ground.
By the ilex and the pine
Did you see our budding thorn?
Thro' the olives and the vine
Were our verdurous pastures borne?
Did pale lakes and mountains grey
Haunt you hither all the way?
Did you see our budding thorn?
Thro' the olives and the vine
Were our verdurous pastures borne?
Did pale lakes and mountains grey
Haunt you hither all the way?
71
Or where palms and cactus crest
All sweet privacy forbid,
Had you vision of a nest
In some English dingle hid?
Tell us wanderer over seas
Was your lodestar one of these?
All sweet privacy forbid,
Had you vision of a nest
In some English dingle hid?
Tell us wanderer over seas
Was your lodestar one of these?
Nay, but singing, ringing clear
Speed the message down the wind
That the guerdon of last year
Led you, joy of soul to find
That one sweetheart, tried and true,
Thro' a whole world followed you.
Speed the message down the wind
That the guerdon of last year
Led you, joy of soul to find
That one sweetheart, tried and true,
Thro' a whole world followed you.
Sing and ring, thro' trackless air
She, you love, is following now,
Soon your ecstasy will share,
Soon will warble from the bough,
And to listening ears shall prove
How adventuresome is Love.
She, you love, is following now,
Soon your ecstasy will share,
Soon will warble from the bough,
And to listening ears shall prove
How adventuresome is Love.
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