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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A BIRD SINGS AT NIGHT, by HILDEGARDE FLANNER
First Line: Who sings upon the pinnacle of night?
Last Line: Time's sinister profile on the wall of night.
Subject(s): Birds
First Line: Who sings upon the pinnacle of night?
Last Line: Time's sinister profile on the wall of night.
Subject(s): Birds
Who sings upon the pinnacle of night?
Down, down, unearthly bird, you sing too soon!
O bird, be still! O bird, the earth is stricken
To hear you at the bosom of the moon.
Consent to silence and a simple dark;
Permit the heart to lie within the breast
Unveiled before a thousand memories,
And in parade salute the loveliest.
Permit the heart, unaltered by your singing,
To have within the dark its pensive way.
Release the heart amid its joys and sorrows
Untroubled by what angels have to say.
Unhindered comes the dawn, and you may sing
Victorious and vocal to the light.
But now delay, and let the heart reverse
Time's sinister profile on the wall of night.
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