The Humming Bird

A sudden whir of eager sound—

And now a something throbs around

The flowers that watch the fountain. Look!

It touched the rose, the green leaves shook,

I think, and yet so lightly tost

That not a spark of dew was lost.

Tell me, O Rose, what thing it is

That now appears, now vanishes?

Surely it took its fire-green hue

From daybreaks that it glittered through;

Quick, for this sparkle of the dawn

Glints through the garden and is gone.

What was the message, Rose, what word;

Delight foretold, or hope deferred?