James Montgomery ( 7 of 17 )
The bird that soars on highest wing,
Builds on the ground her lowly nest;
And she that read more
The bird that soars on highest wing,
Builds on the ground her lowly nest;
And she that doth most sweetly sing,
Sings in the shade when all things rest:
In lark and nightingale we see
What honor hath 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.
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.
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.
