BOBOLINK! that in the meadow, | |
Or beneath the orchards shadow, | |
Keepest up a constant rattle | |
Joyous as my childrens prattle, | |
Welcome to the north again! | 5 |
Welcome to mine ear thy strain, | |
Welcome to mine eye the sight | |
Of thy buff, thy black and white! | |
Brighter plumes may greet the sun | |
By the banks of Amazon; | 10 |
Sweeter tones may weave the spell | |
Of enchanting Philomel; | |
But the tropic bird would fail, | |
And the English nightingale, | |
If we should compare their worth | 15 |
With thine endless, gushing mirth. | |
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When the ides of May are past, | |
June and Summer nearing fast, | |
While from depths of blue above | |
Comes the mighty breath of love, | 20 |
Calling out each bud and flower | |
With resistless, secret power, | |
Waking hope and fond desire, | |
Kindling the erotic fire, | |
Filling youths and maidens dreams | 25 |
With mysterious, pleasing themes; | |
Then, amid the sunlight clear | |
Floating in the fragrant air, | |
Thou dost fill each heart with pleasure | |
By thy glad ecstatic measure. | 30 |
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A single note, so sweet and low, | |
Like a full hearts overflow, | |
Forms the prelude; but the strain | |
Gives no such tone again, | |
For the wild and saucy song | 35 |
Leaps and skips the notes among, | |
With such quick and sportive play, | |
Neer was madder, merrier lay. | |
|
Gayest songster of the Spring! | |
Thy melodies before me bring | 40 |
Visions of some dream-built land, | |
Where, by constant zephyrs fanned, | |
I might walk the livelong day, | |
Embosomed in perpetual May. | |
Nor care nor fear thy bosom knows; | 45 |
For thee a tempest never blows; | |
|
But when our northern Summers oer, | |
By Delawares or Schuylkills shore | |
The wild rice lifts its airy head, | |
And royal feasts for thee are spread. | 50 |
And when the Winter threatens there, | |
Thy tireless wings yet own no fear, | |
But bear thee to more southern coasts, | |
Far beyond the reach of frosts. | |
|
Bobolink! still may thy gladness | 55 |
Take from me all taints of sadness; | |
Fill my soul with trust unshaken | |
In that Being who has taken | |
Care for every living thing, | |
In Summer, Winter, Fall, and Spring. | 60 |
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