III.
Bird, I am drooping in tears alone,
Pressing my cheek 'gainst the cold, grey stone,
And looking upward with aching eye,
Through the tender depths of the morning sky;—
But thy form fades out in that glorious sea
That lieth so calmly 'twixt thee and me;
A speck—it is lost in the azure deep!
And I droop in the deepening gloom, and weep
My sorrowful life away!
O voice of passionate song!—
O bright, unwavering eye!—
O free wing soaring in limitless flight
Beyond the stretch of my aching sight!
How the cold earth darkens in sudden night!
How I shudder, and faint, and die!