---

Sidney Lanier - The Mocking-Bird
Work rating: Medium

Superb and sole, upon a plumed spray
That o`er the general leafage boldly grew,
He summ`d the woods in song; or typic drew
The watch of hungry hawks, the lone dismay
Of languid doves when long their lovers stray,
And all birds` passion-plays that sprinkle dew
At morn in brake or bosky avenue.
Whate`er birds did or dreamed, this bird could say.
Then down he shot, bounced airily along
The sward, twitched in a grasshopper, made song
Midflight, perched, prinked, and to his art again.
Sweet Science, this large riddle read me plain:
How may the death of that dull insect be
The life of yon trim Shakespeare on the tree?
Source
The script ran 0.002 seconds.