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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE HUMMING-BIRD, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I entered my parlor one bright summer morn
Last Line: And your souls will be wafted to mansion above.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tucker, Mary Eliza Perine
Subject(s): Hummingbirds; Worship


I ENTERED my parlor one bright summer morn,
My vases with flowers, sweet flowers to adorn.
In arranging the curtains, there felt on my head
A dear little humming-bird, dead -- quite dead!

I pressed the poor darling so close to my heart,
And thought that I felt a slight flutter, a start!
Could I but restore it to life, how divine,
How sweet, how delicious a joy would be mine!

I rushed to the garden and placed its long mouth
In the sweet honey-suckle which blooms in the South;
I saw that the humming-bird drew a long breath,
As it tasted the nectar that saved it from death!

The minutes flew past, yet I staid in the bower,
And moved my poor birdling from flower to flower;
At last, with a sweet strain of grateful heart's praise,
It flew upward, far upward, beyond my eyes' gaze.

Thus when.you, dear children, are dying in sin --
When all is a void and an aching within --
Drink deep of the nectar of God's holy love,
And your souls will be wafted to mansion above.





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