Felicia Hemans in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine Volume 35 1834/The Birds of the Air
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 35, Page 633
V.
THE BIRDS OF THE AIR.
"Behold the birds of the air."
Ye, too, the glad and fearless Birds of Air,
Were charged that hour, on missionary wing,
The same bright lesson o'er the seas to bear,
Heaven-guided wanderers with the winds of Spring.
Sing on, before the storm, and after, sing!
And call us to your echoing woods away
From worldly cares; and bid our spirits bring
Faith to imbibe deep wisdom from your lay.
So may those blessed vernal strains renew
Childhood, a childhood yet more pure and true
Ev’n than the first, within the awakened mind;
While sweetly, joyously they tell of life
That knows no doubt, no questionings, no strife,
But hangs upon its God, unconsciously resigned.