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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE BLACKBIRD, by ALFRED TENNYSON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: O blackbird! Sing me something well Last Line: Caught in the frozen palms of spring. Alternate Author Name(s): Tennyson, Lord Alfred; Tennyson, 1st Baron; Tennyson Of Aldworth And Farringford, Baron Subject(s): Blackbirds | |||
O BLACKBIRD! sing me something well: While all the neighbors shoot thee round, I keep smooth plats of fruitful ground, Where thou may'st warble, eat, and dwell. The espaliers and the standards all Are thine; the range of lawn and park: The unnetted black-hearts ripen dark; All thine, against the garden wall. Yet, tho' I spared thee all the spring, Thy sole delight is, sitting still, With that gold dagger of thy bill To fret the summer jenneting. A golden bill! the silver tongue, Cold February loved, is dry: Plenty corrupts the melody That made thee famous once, when young And in the sultry garden-squares, Now thy flute-notes are changed to coarse, I hear thee not at all, or hoarse, As when a hawker hawks his wares. Take warning! he that will not sing When yon sun prospers in the blue, Shall sing for want, ere leaves are new, Caught in the frozen palms of Spring. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IN THE ORCHARD by ANNE STEVENSON THE BIRDS by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT A BLACKBIRD by WALLACE STEVENS A BLACKBIRD SINGING by RONALD STUART THOMAS THE BLACKBIRD by HUMBERT WOLFE MARSH MUSIC by KENNETH SLADE ALLING A BLACKBIRD SUDDENLY by JOSEPH AUSLANDER THE BLACKBIRD by WILLIAM BARNES A CHARACTER by ALFRED TENNYSON |
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