Poems (Proctor)/The Oriole

THE ORIOLE.
The sun on the oriole's flashing breastAs he flits through the rosy apple-flowers,A waning moon in the tender west,And, high in the boughs, an empty nestBeaten by winter's blasts and showers;—Hush! his ravishing carol ringsFrom the topmost twig he makes his throne!Rich as the hue of his glancing wings—Mellow as flute-notes zephyr-blownDown Phrygian dells when day is done!—Oriole, singing aloft in the sun,The waning moon and the empty nest,Shadow and silence, at God's behest,Follow shine and the brood in the bowers;Follow, and who knows which is best?—Sing on, by the rosy apple-flowers.