Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE GROUND-ROBIN, by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE GROUND-ROBIN, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: From a low birch-tree just outside my window
Last Line: Sing on, ground-robin, sing!
Subject(s): Faith; Grief; June; Love; New Hampshire; Robins; Summer; Belief; Creed; Sorrow; Sadness


FROM a low birch-tree just outside my window,
Here in the wind-fresh green New Hampshire country;
All through the day, and even at the nightfall,
Cheery, distinct, his heart a home for hope,
His throat full swollen with desire of music,
A little ground-robin sits and sings,
Symbol of summer, neighbor dear to me.

I never hear his note in other places;
But when June comes, and I return to live
Among the birches and memorial pines,
Lo, faithful to the tryst, alert and buoyant,
His strain familiar greets my welcoming soul,
And seems the type of all time-keeping things,
Rebuking chance and change. Illusion sweet
Uprises with the sound; of all the birds
I know, this songster speaks most plain to me,
Making impermanence a very myth.

So carol on, ground-robin! each green year
I listen for you; it would be a grief
Beyond mere words, some June, some fragrant morrow,
To sit and hearken by the open window
In vain; for in a flood of fond regret
Would come a sense of loss, of unrequited
Love, of faith broken at length, of fickle
Friendship, and joy too beautiful to last:
Sing on, ground-robin, sing!





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