Poems (Charlotte Allen)/On hearing a bird singing on a grave

by Charlotte Allen

ON HEARING A LITTLE BIRD AT TWILIGHT SINGING ON A GRAVE.

Say, lovely warbler, dost thou know
The sacred dust that lies below
         That little mound?
Thou dweller of the airy deep,
Why dost thou come to sing and weep
         On hallowed ground?

What doth inspire thy gentle breast,
When light scarce lingers in the west,
         To rest thee there?
Is 't inspiration from above,
Teaching thy voice to sing of love,
         And breathe thy prayer?

Perhaps a friend who watched thy nest,
When truant school-boys were in quest
         Of thy young brood,
Now slumbers in that silent grave,
Where fresh wild flowers so sweetly wave
         In solitude.

And thou dear bird hast come to bring
Thy pure and holy offering
         To friendship's shrine;
But the unconscious form below,
Of thy rich incense ne'er can know;
         Would it were mine.

'T were sweet in thee to shun the day,
And come at twilight hour to pay
         Thy homage here;
No mate was near, thou cam'st alone;
All other birds to rest had flown,
         Not one to cheer.

I watched with rapture, listened long,
And fondly wished thee to prolong
         Thy liquid notes;
Thy requiem o'er, thou winged thy flight,
And vanished in the gathering night,
         Where ether floats.

Oh, wilt thou come again, sweet bird,
And let thy mellowed voice be heard
         At twilight dim,
Upon that humble grassy mound,
Tuning thy silver notes to sound
         Thy evening hymn?