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.
