XXI
That birdie that sings in the tree
As himself were the song that he singeth—
Hearts wonder not that he so sings
Where love’s divine harmony springeth.
That birdie that sings in the tree
As himself were the song that he singeth—
Hearts wonder not that he so sings
Where love’s divine harmony springeth.
Oh! that bird he so sings from the heart
To the heart of the hearer believe it,
He might force e’en a mortal to weep
With a heart that’s attuned to receive it.
To the heart of the hearer believe it,
He might force e’en a mortal to weep
With a heart that’s attuned to receive it.
And methinks that his plaintive refrain
To my own songs is closely related,
For this the light foam of my lyre
Is only a dirge iterated.
To my own songs is closely related,
For this the light foam of my lyre
Is only a dirge iterated.
XXII
What silence reigns around as when
A dream o’er weary eyes descends,
As when the bird in downy nest
Her callow offspring tends.
What silence reigns around as when
A dream o’er weary eyes descends,
As when the bird in downy nest
Her callow offspring tends.
So gently night her pinions fold
Above the star-bespangled skies,
And haply many a heart shall gain
What carking day denies.
Above the star-bespangled skies,
And haply many a heart shall gain
What carking day denies.
And haply many a heart shall win
What envious earth no more may give,
And kindly dreams make real the gleams
That scarce in memory live.
What envious earth no more may give,
And kindly dreams make real the gleams
That scarce in memory live.
XXIII
I tried to think how life would be
Were love from this world banished,
Earth would be but a naked waste
Whence every flower had vanished.
I tried to think how life would be
Were love from this world banished,
Earth would be but a naked waste
Whence every flower had vanished.
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