Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO CHILDREN: 6. BIRDS OF THE AIR, by WILLIAM ROSE BENET



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TO CHILDREN: 6. BIRDS OF THE AIR, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, the birds of the air, in the sky far up there
Last Line: The birds of the air, they are calling you again!
Subject(s): Birds; Children; Childhood


Oh, the birds of the air, in the sky far up there,
They are winging, they are singing -- the birds of the air.
More purely than all passion -- bright, bright above all pain,
The birds of the air, they are calling you again!

For on high the windy meadows of skyland are blest
With golden lights, blue shadows, high turrets where they nest --
With the merlons and the embrasures of cloud castles white,
Where warm sunshine enchants them from morn to starry night.

So they trill from tree and lawn and the leaves of our eaves,
But they fly from us for rapture of a world that bereaves
This world of light and substance. They soar and find the true
Where our care covets glory in bliss beyond the blue.

Aye, when colors like to music -- magic music -- suffuse
The skies, with dawn or evening, they soar for fuller news.
They choir before the maiden East. They cloud her golden hair.
Through the sally-ports of sunset wing the birds of the air.

The birds of the air, in the blue far up there,
They are winging, they are singing -- the birds of the air.
More purely than all passion -- bright, bright above all pain,
The birds of the air, they are calling you again!





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