27.12.2010, 11:38
NIGHTINGALES.
What spirit moves the quiring nightingales
To utter forth their notes so soft and clear ?
What purport hath their music, which prevails
At midnight, thrilling all the darken'd air ?
'Tis said, some weeks before the hen-birds land
Upon our shores, their tuneful mates appear ;
And, in that space, by hope and sorrow spann'd,
Their sweetest melodies 'tis ours to hear ;
And is it so ? for solace till they meet,
Does this most perfect chorus charm the grove ?
Do these wild voices, round me and above.
Of amorous forethought and condolence treat ?
Well may such lays be sweetest of the sweet,
That aim to fill the intervals of Love !
What spirit moves the quiring nightingales
To utter forth their notes so soft and clear ?
What purport hath their music, which prevails
At midnight, thrilling all the darken'd air ?
'Tis said, some weeks before the hen-birds land
Upon our shores, their tuneful mates appear ;
And, in that space, by hope and sorrow spann'd,
Their sweetest melodies 'tis ours to hear ;
And is it so ? for solace till they meet,
Does this most perfect chorus charm the grove ?
Do these wild voices, round me and above.
Of amorous forethought and condolence treat ?
Well may such lays be sweetest of the sweet,
That aim to fill the intervals of Love !