The Maryland Yellow-Throat
A host of warblers northward come in May,
And linger with us only one brief day;
You, yellow-throated songster, love to stay.
We glimpse your dainty coat of olive-green,
Your breast and throat of shimmering yellow sheen
And mask of black, where ferns and bushes lean
O’er sparkling streamlets, rimmed with many a reed,
And hung with brilliant golden jewel-weed.
Midst feathery spikes of meadow-sweet you speed.
Your brooding mate you watch, as to and fro
You flit; and while the summer breezes blow
You sing your Witch-i-tee′-o, witch-i-tee′-o.