Page:Poems Holley.djvu/51

When the West is a golden glow, and lower
 The sun is sinking large and round,
Like a golden goblet spilling o'er,
 Glittering drops that drip to the ground—
Then I spread my lustrous wings and cleave the air
 Sailing high with a motion calm and slow,
Far down the green earth lies like a picture fair,
 Then with rapid wing I sink in the shining glow;
A-chasing the glinting, gleaming drops; oh, a diver
Am I in a clear and a golden sea, and Summer will last forever.

The leaves with a pleasant rustling sound are stirred
 Of a night, and the stars are calm and bright:
And I know, although I am only a little bird,
 One large serious star is watching me all the night,
For when the dewy leaves are waved by the breeze,
 I see it forever smiling down on me.
So I cover my head with my wing, and sleep in peace,
 As blessed as ever a little bird can be;
And the silver moonlight falls over land and sea and river,
And the nights are cool, and the nights are still, and Summer will last forever.

I think you would journey many and many a day,
 Ere you so contented and blest a bird would see;