James Montgomery ( 7 of 17 )
Nearest the throne itself must be
The footstool of humility.
Nearest the throne itself must be
The footstool of humility.
The Dove,
On silver pinions, winged her peaceful way.
The Dove,
On silver pinions, winged her peaceful way.
A work of skill, surpassing sense,
A labor of Omnipotence;
Though frail as dust it meet thine read more
A work of skill, surpassing sense,
A labor of Omnipotence;
Though frail as dust it meet thine eye,
He form'd this gnat who built the sky.
Blue thou art, intensely blue;
Flower, whence came thy dazzling hue?
Blue thou art, intensely blue;
Flower, whence came thy dazzling hue?
Nimbly they seized and secreted their prey,
Alive and wriggling in the elastic net,
Which Nature hung read more
Nimbly they seized and secreted their prey,
Alive and wriggling in the elastic net,
Which Nature hung beneath their grasping beaks;
Till, swoln, with captures, the unwieldy burden
Clogg'd their slow flight, as heavily to land,
These mighty hunters of the deep return'd.
There on the cragged cliffs they perch'd at ease,
Gorging their hapless victims one by one;
Then full and weary, side by side, they slept,
Till evening roused them to the chase again.
The nursery of brooding Pelicans,
The dormitory of their dead, had vanish'd,
And all the minor spots read more
The nursery of brooding Pelicans,
The dormitory of their dead, had vanish'd,
And all the minor spots of rock and verdue,
The abodes of happy millions, were no more.
Nature's prime favourites were the Pelicans;
High-fed, long-lived, and sociable and free.
Nature's prime favourites were the Pelicans;
High-fed, long-lived, and sociable and free.
