The Song Bird
And yesterday, ah! . . . yesterday
I flung a golden net of thought
Across the tangled world that lay
About me, and I caught
I flung a golden net of thought
Across the tangled world that lay
About me, and I caught
A song-bird with a shining crest . . .
And plumage coloured like a flame—
A stranger, different from the rest . . .
I knew from whence he came . . .
And plumage coloured like a flame—
A stranger, different from the rest . . .
I knew from whence he came . . .
From that grey city fair indeed
To some . . . but foul to those, too wise
Who pass her Sphinx-like smile, to read
The secret in her eyes . . .
To some . . . but foul to those, too wise
Who pass her Sphinx-like smile, to read
The secret in her eyes . . .
And this bird sang a song that set
My heart a-thrill with hope and power.
Earth's fruitless feverish care and fret
Fell from me in that hour.
My heart a-thrill with hope and power.
Earth's fruitless feverish care and fret
Fell from me in that hour.
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