| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909. | | | | ‘O Nightingale, Thou Surely Art’ | | By William Wordsworth (1770–1850) |
| | | O NIGHTINGALE! thou surely art | |
| A Creature of a fiery heart:— | |
| These notes of thine—they pierce and pierce; | |
| Tumultuous harmony and fierce! | |
| Thou sing’st as if the God of wine | 5 |
| Had helped thee to a Valentine; | |
| A song in mockery and despite | |
| Of shades, and dews, and silent night; | |
| And steady bliss, and all the loves | |
| Now sleeping in these peaceful groves. | 10 |
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| I heard a Stock-dove sing or say | |
| His homely tale, this very day; | |
| His voice was buried among the trees, | |
| Yet to be come at by the breeze; | |
| He did not cease; but cooed—and cooed; | 15 |
| And somewhat pensively he wooed: | |
| He sang of love, with quiet blending, | |
| Slow to begin, and never ending; | |
| Of serious faith, and inward glee; | |
| That was the Song—the Song for me! | 20 | | | |
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