HIGH on a gnarled and mossy forest bough, Dreaming, I hang between the earth and sky, The golden moon through leafy mystery Gazing aslant at me with glowing brow. And since all living creatures slumber now, O nightingale, save only thou and I, Tell me the secret of thine ecstacy, That none may know save only I and thou. Alas, all vainly doth my heart entreat; Thy magic pipe unfolds but to the moon What wonders thee in faëry worlds befell: To her is sung thy midnight music sweet, And ere she wearies of thy mellow tune, She hath thy secret, and will guard it well! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MODULATIONS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON HER LIKENESS by DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK THE SHEPHERD OF KING ADMETUS by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: AMANDA BARKER by EDGAR LEE MASTERS THE BELLE OF THE BALL by WINTHROP MACKWORTH PRAED PHRYGES: JUSTICE PROTECTS THE KING by AESCHYLUS WRITTEN ON THE LEAVES OF A FAN by FRANCIS ATTERBURY THE JACKDAW OF RHEIMS by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH; LAST POEM, ROME, MAY, 1861 by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |