Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DAWN, OR THE TWILIGHT CHORUS, by ELIZA KEARY



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DAWN, OR THE TWILIGHT CHORUS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Do you hear the mixed, merry chatter
Last Line: The day's work has begun.
Subject(s): Dawn; Sunrise


DO you hear the mixed, merry chatter
Of the birds? listen to the dawn chorus;
Music scarcely, but such a clamour of praise,
Single notes bandied from one to another,
No two alike; each note a new-made word,
Fitting close to the little warm heart-throbs;
Chatter of chirp and song, and whimsical
Shouting of orders out loud, each to each.
See, a thrush comes skimming over the wet lawn,
Flitting across the shadowless light of the garden.
Do you hear? One word said three times over,
What refrain is't growing up in the clatter?
Is it "God" they say over and over again? --
There, three words repeated, what's that! The love
Of some lover, the content of some mate.
Is it love, "O love, sweet, I love you?" or
Wild, throbbing joy at the life-burst of day,
Life and light chanted in the cold morning.
Ah! now they're tired, and a sort of hush comes,
Not silence exactly, but a kind of subdued talking
About breakfast and worms. Is that
A little quarrel beginning between a finch and a sparrow?
A touch of full daylight, perhaps. But now
Rises one clear, rich song, flooding over
The mixed many noises, till it and they
Drop all together, and the birds fly out
Hither and thither, in sunlight and shade,
As if they had something to do or other;
And one is only aware of a chirp now and then,
In a business-like tone; perhaps they are bargaining.
The day's work has begun.






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