from
TO A SKYLARK
Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!
Bird thou never wert,
That from Heaven, or near
it,
Pourest thy full heart
In profuse strains of unpremeditated
art.
Higher still and higher
From the earth thou springest
Like a cloud of fire;
The blue deep thou wingest,
And singing still dost soar,
and soaring ever singest…
What thou art we know not;
What is most like thee?
From rainbow clouds there
flow not
Drops so bright to see
As from thy presence showers
a rain of melody…
Yet if we could scorn
Hate, and pride, and fear;
If we were things born
Not to shed a tear,
I know not how thy joy we
ever should come near.
Better than all measures
Of delightful sound,
Better than all treasures
That in books are found,
Thy skill to poet were, thou
scorner of the ground!
Teach me half the gladness
That thy brain must know,
Such harmonious madness
From my lips would flow
The world should listen then,
as I am listening now.