The Silken Tassel/Bird and Flower
Bird and Flower
Far from the foaming seas a bird of time
Appear’d and sat beside a hillside flower,
And seven long summers in full-hearted rhyme
Sang songs of many a burning land and bower
Appear’d and sat beside a hillside flower,
And seven long summers in full-hearted rhyme
Sang songs of many a burning land and bower
Under the light and shade of smiles and tears;—
And, though the rolling mists have pass’d him by,
Yet, like the seven-stars these seven long years
Still stand as one in Memory’s answering sky!
And, though the rolling mists have pass’d him by,
Yet, like the seven-stars these seven long years
Still stand as one in Memory’s answering sky!
Aye, though the flower be pluck’d by alien hands,
Still would the bird sit by the blinded branch
And sing ten million songs, as none could wrench
Still would the bird sit by the blinded branch
And sing ten million songs, as none could wrench
Its deep-soul’d perfume from him, till the sands
Of mortal life ran out, and Bird and Flower
Once more embosom’d smiled in God’s own Tower!
Of mortal life ran out, and Bird and Flower
Once more embosom’d smiled in God’s own Tower!