"What bird sings now, an hour before the day? Into my very heart that sweet note rings, -- O Diarmid, my son!" the Abbot said: "Daybreak is near; in darkness the bird sings." Answered the monk: "It is the blackbird's song, My father; in the second month, each night Wears chill before the dawn; then, the bird sings, -- Praising our God for light, @3before@1 the Light." The Abbot Kemak's eyes o'erflowed with tears; "In these sweet praises, God's great love I mark To me: -- to teach me faith beyond my fears, -- How bravely sings the bird, while yet 'tis dark. "A bit of earth in feathers! yet there springs A fount of Song attuned to Love Divine: Answering the Call of joy, his praise he brings, His morning Hymn; my God, Thou shalt have mine!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HORACE TO LEUCONOE by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON CLOTHES by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER TIME THE HANGMAN by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS EMPEDOCLES ON ETNA; A DRAMATIC POEM by MATTHEW ARNOLD THE LITTLE GIRL FOUND, FR. SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE LOVE SONNETS OF PROTEUS: 60. FAREWELL TO JULIET (9) by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |