|
|
|
Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TWO PICTURES, by NICHOLAS MARTIN
First Line: High on a snow-clad branch a gloomy bird
Last Line: Oh! Would that again I might hear his lays!
Subject(s): Birds; Grief; Sorrow; Sadness
First Line: High on a snow-clad branch a gloomy bird
Last Line: Oh! Would that again I might hear his lays!
Subject(s): Birds; Grief; Sorrow; Sadness
High on a snow-clad branch a gloomy bird
Sat, silent as despair, and never stirred!
Upon the desolate earth are fixed his eyes—
In the lone glen, perchance, he marks a prize;
Or is he dead? Not so—he strippeth bare
The snow-clad bough, and whets his beak with care;
Then sails away on weary wing, and then
Drops where yon sexton digs the graves of men!
A bird sat piping upon a spray,
All silvered over with blossoms gay.
His crimson plumage was wondrous bright,
He seemed to have flown from the realms of light.
So clear a voice from his throat did pass,
The charmed soul rang to it, like a glass.
He sang such pæans of victory,
That the hearts of all men with hope beat high.
He is dead—that bird of my golden days—
Oh! would that again I might hear his lays!
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
SONOMA FIRE by JANE HIRSHFIELD
AS THE SPARKS FLY UPWARDS by JOHN HOLLANDER
WHAT GREAT GRIEF HAS MADE THE EMPRESS MUTE by JUNE JORDAN
CHAMBER MUSIC: 19 by JAMES JOYCE
DIRGE AT THE END OF THE WOODS by LEONIE ADAMS
YOUNG AND OLD by NICHOLAS MARTIN