Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO THE NIGHTINGALE, by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO THE NIGHTINGALE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Gale of the night our fathers call'd thee, bird!
Last Line: From the far tomb his voice shall silence mine.
Subject(s): Birds; Nightingales


Gale of the night our fathers call'd thee, bird!
Surely not rude were they who call'd thee so,
Whether mid spring-tide mirth thy song they heard
Or whether its soft gurgle melted woe.

They knew not, heeded not, that every clime
Hath been attemper'd by thy minstrelsy;
They knew not, heeded not, from earliest time
How every poet's nest was warm'd by thee.

In Paradise's unpolluted bowers
Did Milton listen to thy freshest strain;
In his own night didst thou assuage the hours
When Crime and Tyranny were crown'd again.

Melodious Shelley caught thy softest song,
And they who heard his music heard not thine
Gentle and joyous, delicate and strong,
From the far tomb his voice shall silence mine.





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