Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A MOCKING-BIRD by WITTER BYNNER

Poet Analysis

First Line: AN ARROW, FEATHERY, ALIVE
Last Line: OF PARADISE.
Subject(s): MOCKINGBIRDS;
AN ARROW, feathery, alive,
He darts and sings,—
Then with a sudden skimming dive
Of striped wings
He finds a pine and, debonair,
Makes with his mate
All birds that ever rested there
Articulate.

The whisper of a multitude
Of happy wings
Is round him, a returning brood,
Each time he sings.
Though heaven be not for them or him
Yet he is wise,
And daily tiptoes on the rim
Of paradise.



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