Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ODE TO A MOCKINGBIRD, by ANNE ARRINGTON TYSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ODE TO A MOCKINGBIRD, by                    
First Line: All hail blithe songster of the south
Last Line: Bird of the south, bird of the spring!
Subject(s): Mockingbirds; Southern States; South (u.s.)


All hail blithe songster of the South,
Gay warbler of the rolling hills
And verdant fields! From thy sweet mouth
Sing rhapsodies and gurgling trills,
Like limpid streams that ripple soft
'Mid cooling shadows of the vale;
Thou peer of skylark soaring loft,
And silvery throated nightingale!

Art imitator thou and shrewd,
Skilled mimic of thy singing herd?
Gay little cheat and fellow rude,
For shame, thou thievish mocking bird!
And yet consummate artist, thou,
And skilled and perfect melodist;
We will forget, forgive, allow
Thy seeming theft, sweet plagiarist!

Capricious fellow thou and gay,
Careering ever on the wing;
The Quaker dress of modest gray
Belies thy heart; that man-like thing,
Inconstancy, dwells in thy breast,
While thy own loving, trusting mate
Coos to thy young in the home nest;
'Tis the eternal female fate!

Sweet singer of the Southland gay
Where flowers, fruit, and lake and stream,
And sparkling water-fall and spray
Murmur of love, in romance dream,
Pour out thy rhapsodies in song!
Sing to the everlasting hills
And let them echo all day long,
And we'll forgive thy faults and ills!

O spirit of the South divine,
O singer of the wood and dale,
Where grow the rose and columbine,
Thou peer of lark and nightingale,
Lend forth thy voice in perfect note!
Sing in thy rapt ecstasy, sing!
O thou in dark, modest gray coat,
Bird of the South, bird of the spring!





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