Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, COVERT, by HELEN MARIA HUNT FISKE JACKSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

COVERT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: One day, when sunny fields lay warm and still
Last Line: "thy hiding-place is safe. Glad heart, keep still!"
Alternate Author Name(s): H. H.; Holm, Saxe; Jackson, Helen Hunt
Subject(s): Love; Singing & Singers; Songs


One day, when sunny fields lay warm and still,
And from their tufted hillocks, thick and sweet
With moss and pine and ferns, such spicy heat
Rose up, it seemed the air to overfill,
And quicken every sense with subtle thrill,
I rambled on with careless, aimless feet,
And lingered idly, finding all so sweet.

Sudden, almost beneath my footsteps' weight,
Almost before the sunny silence heard
Their sound, from a low bush, which scarcely stirred
A twig at lightening of its hidden freight,
Flew, frightened from her nest, the small brown mate
Of some melodious, joyous, soaring bird,
Whose song that instant high in air I heard.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Ah! Heart," I said, "when days are warm and sweet,
And sunny hours for very joy are still,
And every sense feels subtle, languid thrill
Of voiceless memory's renewing heat,
Fly not at sound of strangers' aimless feet!
Of thy love's distant song drink all thy fill!
Thy hiding-place is safe. Glad heart, keep still!"





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