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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ODE TO THE HUMMINGBIRD by ROYALL TYLER

First Line: THOU INSECT BIRD! THOU PLUMED BEE!
Last Line: AND SPORT'ST WITH SPRING ON OTHER MEADS.
Subject(s): HUMMINGBIRDS;

THOU insect bird! thou plumed bee!
The muse attunes her lay to thee,
Of all that spread the tiny wing,
And float upon the gales of spring,
None boast so fine a form as thine,
No flower has hues that can out-shine
The crimson down thy neck that rings,
The verdant gold that tints thy wings;
To leave the leaf by zephyr borne,
And rove the roscid meads at morn,
Or down the garden's alleys wing,
And seem the fairy power of spring,
That views her buds with anxious care
And fans them with her softest air.
Such is the life decreed to thee,
So blissful do thy moments flee;
And when thy darling flowers at last
Fade and die by winter's blast,
Thou fliest where happy instinct leads,
And sport'st with spring on other meads.



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