Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ON SHOOTING A SWALLOW IN EARLY YOUTH, by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ON SHOOTING A SWALLOW IN EARLY YOUTH, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I hoard a little spring of secret tears
Last Line: I seem to love the little ghost I made.
Subject(s): Death - Animals; Swallows


I hoard a little spring of secret tears,
For thee, poor bird; thy death-blow was my crime:
From the far past it has flow'd on for years;
It never dries; it brims at swallow-time.
No kindly voice within me took thy part,
Till I stood o'er thy last faint flutterings;
Since then, methinks, I have a gentler heart,
And gaze with pity on all wounded wings.
Full oft the vision of thy fallen head,
Twittering in highway dust, appeals to me;
Thy helpless form, as when I struck thee dead,
Drops out from every swallow-flight I see.
I would not have thine airy spirit laid,
I seem to love the little ghost I made.






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