The Night Bird A Myth

A floating, a

Across the sleeping sea,

All night I heard a singing

Upon the topmost tree.'Oh came you off the isles of Greece,

Or off the banks of Seine;

Or off some tree in forests free,

Which fringe the western main?''I came not off the old

Nor yet from off the new—But I am one of the birds of

Which sing the whole night through.''Oh sing, and wake the dawning—Oh whistle for the wind;

The night is long, the current strong,

My boat it lags behind.''The current sweeps the old world,

The current sweeps the new;

The wind will blow, the dawn will

Ere thou hast sailed them through.'Eversley, 1848.