THE MOTHER BIRD.
SIMILE FROM “DIVINA COMMEDIA.”
Like as the bird who on her nest all night
Had rested, darkling with her tender brood,
'Mid the loved foliage, longing now for light,
To gaze on their dear looks, and bring them food:
Sweet task! whose pleasures all its toil repay—
Anticipates the dawn, and through the wood
Ascending, perches on the topmost spray;
There, all impatience, watching to descry
The first faint glimmer of approaching day:
Thus did my lady toward the southern sky,
Erect and motionless, her visage turn;
The mute suspense that filled her wistful eye,
Made me like one who waits a friend’s return,
Lives on this hope, and will no other own.
Translation of F. C. Gray. Dante Alighieri, 1265–1321.