The Night Bird: A Myth
A floating, a floating
Across the sleeping sea,
All night I heard a singing bird
Upon the topmost tree.
'Oh came you off the isles of Greece,
Or off the banks of Seine;
Or off some tree in forests free,
Which fringe the western main?'
'I came not off the old world
Nor yet from off the new-
But I am one of the birds of God
Which sing the whole night through.'
'Oh sing, and wake the dawning-
Oh whistle for the wind;
The night is long, the current strong,
My boat it lags behind.'
'The current sweeps the old world,
The current sweeps the new;
The wind will blow, the dawn will glow
Ere thou hast sailed them through.'
Eversley, 1848.
poem by Charles Kingsley
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Related quotes
A Myth
A FLOATING, a floating
Across the sleeping sea,
All night I heard a singing bird
Upon the topmast tree.
“Oh, came you from the isles of Greece
Or from the banks of Seine;
Or off some tree in forests free,
Which fringe the western main?”
“I came not off the old world
Nor yet from off the new—
But I am one of the birds of God
Which sing the whole night through.”
“Oh, sing and wake the dawning—
Oh, whistle for the wind;
The night is long, the current strong,
My boat it lags behind.”
“The current sweeps the old world,
The current sweeps the new;
The wind will blow, the dawn will glow,
Ere thou hast sail’d them through.”
poem by Charles Kingsley
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Willow tree by the lake
Willow tree by the lake standing tall since the day one
Home for birds and squirrels, place of fun
Breeze will come and play with her branches
Whistle at them before they move on
Any time, at mid day, at night or at the crack of dawn
Humming bird feeder and bird house hanging all over the tree
They swing back and forth and hang free
All summer it is a fun house as the birds come and go
Rabbits will hop around on the ground below.
Ducks will sit idle or sleep under her shade
Squirrels will carry food up the trunk, not afraid
During winter when nature sleeps no life around
Willow tree will shelter the birds, the squirrels
and even the worms under it's ground.
Many yrs ago I planted the tree, saw it grow day by day
Sat under it, wrote poems, it made me happy and gay
I know one day my time will be up and I will be gone
But my willow tree will still be here, singing with the wind at each dawn.
poem by Syed Karim
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Against Current
I like to move against current
I want to play more around
I don’t like to just follow order
I like to place myself against current
I want to challenge how far I could go on
I don’t like to be lead without having any power
I like to be against current
I want to see the faces who passing me by
Even I should turn so far, even I should wait a little more time
I want to be free to do what I want, to follow my heart’s tell
Maybe I’m not always against current
Maybe it’s good and the right one
But I will never know what’s outside the flow
If I only let myself swept by current
poem by Maria Sudibyo
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Mamaloi
Patrick simmons
Layin back and sittin in the sunshine
Hot wind, I drink me little wine
Straw hat down across my eyes
Lettin the world go by
Music, it start my toes a tappin
Drum beat, it set my hands a clappin
Rum wine, it get my head a spinnin
Turnin around and round
Caribbean current, please take me
I hear you callin me home
Got to get back to jamaica
I want no more to roam
Caribbean current, please take me
I hear you callin me home
Got to get back to jamaica
Gypsy, she say I got the fever
I dont know whether to believe her
But when the wind blow from the sea
My soul start to fly away
She give me charm that will protect me
Necklace with stone from far across the sea
But island magic much too strong
It wont let me go this time
Caribbean current, please take me
I hear you callin me home
Got to get back to jamaica
I want no more to roam
Caribbean current, please take me
I hear you callin me home
Got to get back to jamaica
Caribbean current, please take me
I hear you callin me home
Got to get back to jamaica
I want no more to roam
Caribbean current, please take me
I hear you callin me home
Got to get back to jamaica
song performed by by Doobie Brothers
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Bird’s Song
Swim through oceans of air
Birds keep time up there
And spend their days winging
Through forests of clouds, singing
Hymns of nature’s style
Fluttering away all the while
Dancing with angels in the sky
Dancing, dancing as they fly
Through fields of blue
Just to sing their song for you.
Mountains of clouds all about
Saviors in times of drought
Gather up the tears you cry
Into your reservoir in the sky
And listen to the birds sing
Listen for the song in everything
From the forests to the sea
From the bird to the bee
Listen and the song is there
Nature sings everywhere.
The sun rejoices each new day
But it rises in the usual way
To wake up the world with beams of light
And to conquer the darkness of night
But still the birds sing their song
A tribute to the day that’s long
And travel through fields of blue
Just to sing their song for you
And then when all has gone away
They’ll sing for you some other day.
poem by Jamie Collins
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The Mahogany Tree
Christmas is here:
Winds whistle shrill,
Icy and chill,
Little care we:
Little we fear
Weather without,
Shelter about
The Mahogany Tree.
Once on the boughs
Birds of rare plume
Sang, in its bloom;
Night-birds are we:
Here we carouse,
Singing like them,
Perched round the stem
Of the jolly old tree.
Here let us sport,
Boys, as we sit;
Laughter and wit
Flashing so free.
Life is but short --
When we are gone,
Let them sing on
Round the old tree.
Evenings we knew,
Happy as this;
Faces we miss,
Pleasant to see.
Kind hearts and true,
Gentle and just,
Peace to your dust!
We sing round the tree.
Care, like a dun,
Lurks at the gate:
Let the dog wait;
Happy we'll be!
Drink, every one;
Pile up the coals,
Fill the red bowls,
Round the old tree!
Drain we the cup. --
Friend, art afraid?
Spirits are laid
In the Red Sea.
Mantle it up;
Empty it yet;
Let us forget,
Round the old tree.
Sorrows, begone!
Life and its ills,
Duns and their bills,
Bid we to flee.
Come with the dawn,
Blue-devil sprite,
Leave us to-night,
Round the old tree.
poem by William Makepeace Thackeray
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The Message
Wind of the gentle summer night,
Dwell in the lilac tree,
Sway the blossoms clustered light,
Then blow over to me.
Wind, you are sometimes strong and great,
You frighten the ships at sea,
Now come floating your delicate freight
Out of the lilac tree,
Wind you must waver a gossamer sail
To ferry a scent so light,
Will you carry my love a message as frail
Through the hawk-haunted night?
For my heart is sometimes strange and wild,
Bitter and bold and free,
I scare the beautiful timid child,
As you frighten the ships at sea;
But now when the hawks are piercing the air,
With the golden stars above,
The only thing that my heart can bear
Is a lilac message of love.
Gentle wind, will you carry this
Up to her window white
Give her a gentle tender kiss;
Bid her good-night, good-night.
poem by Duncan Campbell Scott
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You Are The Tree, I Am The Wind
You are the tree, I am the wind,
You alter my course, yet you also bend;
No longer is either the same after each-
I am the wind, be my tree, I do beseech!
Ethereal, unseen-yet alterations I may make!
Magnificent, beautiful-away, my gust, you take!
Together, we are an ever-changing landscape,
Making wondrous reality out of our dreasmscape!
A tree, without its wind-breathless, becalmed:
A wind, without its tree-purposeless, withdrawn!
The wind sweeps around the tree, the tree dances
More inspiring is this than all other romances!
I, the most powerful wind, you, the most beautificent tree;
Wonder do I what, as one, together, we may be!
Maurice Harris,30 August 2009
poem by Maurice Harris
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Singing Tree
(words & music by owens - solberg)
Youre the one who beckoned the wind
And fanned the flame when our love began
So dont pretend you dont know me
Our names are carved on you, singing tree
Oh singing tree
Sing to me
Call your friend
The roving wind
Maybe he can find my love
And bring her back, singing tree
Your leaves have turned from green to blue
Sometimes I think you loved her too
But since she left and our love died
You stand petrified, singing tree
Oh sing to me
Singing tree
Call your friend
The roving wind
Maybe he can find my love
And bring her back, singing tree
Oh sing to me
Singing tree
Call your friend
The roving wind
Maybe he can find my love
song performed by by Elvis Presley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Awaiting Thee
When thou art gone;
I sing my lonely song.
When thou art gone;
My waking hours are filled only with thoughts of thee.
When I sleep,
My dreams are filled with thee-
As I long for thee.
My love;
I await thee-
Lonely day,
After lonely day.
Lonely night,
After lonely night.
When The sun shines bright,
And the songbirds sing their joyous chorus-
It reminds me of this love of ours-
As I long for thee.
I await thee,
My love-
Throughout the lonely day-
Till the setting sun dwindles in dusk’s twilight-
Beyond golden pastures-
Fading in the night.
My love;
I long for thee.
My love;
I await thee-
Throughout the lonely night,
As the crickets chirp their symphony,
And in the darkness,
Like floating candles,
The fireflies glow.
And I remember our love,
As I gaze at the silver moon,
And diamond stars.
Forever embracing this love of ours.
As I sleep at night,
I dream only of being with thee,
My love.
As I awake,
And the sun rises at dawn over the emerald mountain tops,
I await thee,
My love.
Longing for you-
Day through day,
Night through night-
I await thee,
My love.
My love;
When thou art gone;
I sing my lonely song…
poem by Philip Alarie
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I heard a bird at dawn
I heard a bird at dawn
Singing sweetly on a tree,
That the dew was on the lawn,
And the wind was on the lea;
But I didn't listen to him,
For he didn't sing to me.
I didn't listen to him,
For he didn't sing to me
That the dew was on the lawn
And the wind was on the lea;
I was singing at the time
Just as prettily as he.
I was singing all the time,
Just a prettily as he,
About the dew upon the lawn
And the wind upon the lea;
So I didn't listen to him
As he sang upon a tree.
poem by James Stephens
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I Await Thee
When thou art gone;
I sing my lonely song.
When thou art gone;
My waking hours are filled only with thoughts of thee.
When I sleep,
My dreams are filled with thee-
As I long for thee.
My love;
I await thee-
Lonely day,
After lonely day.
Lonely night,
After lonely night.
When The sun shines bright,
And the songbirds sing their joyous chorus-
I remember our love-
As I long for thee.
I await thee,
My love-
Throughout the lonely day-
Till the setting sun dwindles in dusk’s twilight-
Beyond golden pastures-
Fading in the night.
My love;
I long for thee.
My love;
I await thee-
Throughout the lonely night,
As the crickets chirp their symphony,
And in the darkness,
Like floating candles,
The fireflies glow.
And I remember our love,
As I gaze at the silver moon,
And diamond stars.
And I Forever embrace this love of ours.
As I sleep at night,
I dream only of being with thee,
My love.
As I awake,
And the sun rises at dawn over the emerald mountain tops,
I await thee,
My love.
Longing for thee-
Day through day,
Night through night-
I await thee,
My love.
My love;
When thou art gone;
I sing my lonely song…
poem by Philip Alarie
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A Parable From Liebig
The church bells were ringing, the devil sat singing
On the stump of a rotting old tree;
'Oh faith it grows cold, and the creeds they grow old,
And the world is nigh ready for me.'
The bells went on ringing, a spirit came singing,
And smiled as he crumbled the tree;
'Yon wood does but perish new seedlings to cherish,
And the world is too live yet for thee.'
Eversley, 1848.
poem by Charles Kingsley
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Sand Castles
(words & music by david hess - herb goldberg)
At night
When the sky is still
When the south wind blows
And the air is warm
Theres a world thats born
And for every child on the beach that day
Stands a castle tall and proud
And the warm wind crawls through the castle walls
And the nightfolk wake as the warm wind calls
At night
When the sky is still
When the south wind blows
And the air is warm
Theres a world thats born
Then the fiddler crab plays his violin
On the back of a dancing whale
While the mermaid sing to the shell they bring
And the dragon leads with his sweeping tail
At night
When the sky is still
When the south wind blows
And the air is warm
Theres a world thats born
For the rosy dawn
Brings the children on to the beach thats bright and new
And the nightfolk know as the castles grow
They will play once more as the children do
At night
When the sky is still
When the south wind blows
And the air is warm
Theres a world thats born
A world thats born
Theres a world thats born
A world thats born
song performed by by Elvis Presley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Bridge, The
I once
as a young boy
stood on a little
wooden country bridge;
tip-toed to look at
the languid moving water
Tomorrow popped up -
the wind that had blown in
tore off a leaf from
a tall standing tree
roots entrenched
by the water's edge
and this leaf
wafted and fluttered
and glided into the
current below
taken bodily
where gravity pulls
and drifted upon the
wavelets lapping
and pushing
its severed self
far, far away into
the distance
I heard the crickets
and the cicadas
droning in the
afternoon sun;
those things could
ruin your ears!
and all the while
I gazed upon the
fallen leaf
hoping to spy on
what the future
promised downstream:
that if I let go
of whatever it was
that kept me there
feet dangling through
the rusted railing;
heart racing
would I wake up
and return to the
bustling world
unable to swim
against the current
rudely torn off
poem by Frederick Kesner
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Heart Solitude
I'to pass alone the cold night without tears*
Attempt for standing without love and try the feeling heart solitude*
I'passed my long night without word's*
without power*
Tried for to pass the current ocean of love that has bring me in heart solitude*
Tried for running to resist the current dark night that was impossible*
When the current attacked and made collapse my heart*
I'fall and sink in heart solitude*
Hoped received the warm hug*
Waiting the holy kiss*
I'passed my heart solitude*
Tried to erase my feel yearn that was impossible*
I'planted my longing too much in grounds my heart, and only will become wound in my heart**
Hast Thou Forgotten Me?
HAST thou forgotten me? the days are dark—
Light ebbs from heaven, and songless soars the lark—
Vexed like my heart, loud moans the unquiet sea—
Hast thou forgotten me?
Hast thou forgotten me? O dead delight
Whose dreams and memories torture me to-night—
O love—my life! O sweet—so fair to see—
Hast thou forgotten me?
Hast thou forgotten? Lo, if one should say—
Noontide were night, or night were flaming day—
Grief blinds mine eyes, I know not which it be!
Hast thou forgotten me?
Hast thou forgotten? Ah, if Death should come,
Close my sad eyes, and charm my song-bird dumb—
Tired of strange woes—my fate were hailed with glee—
Hast thou forgotten me?
Hast thou forgotten me? What joy have I?
A dim blown bird beneath an alien sky,—
O that on mighty pinions I could flee—
Hast thou forgotten me?
Hast thou forgotten? Yea, Love’s horoscope
Is blurred with tears and suffering beyond Hope—
Ah, like dead leaves forsaken of the tree,
Thou hast forgotten me.
poem by Philip Joseph Holdsworth
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Nanine
We heard a song-bird trilling
'T was but a night ago.
Such rapture he was rilling
As only we could know.
This morning he is flinging
His music from the tree,
But something in the singing
Is not the same to me.
His inspiration fails him,
Or he has lost his skill.
Nanine, Nanine, what ails him
That he should sing so ill?
Nanine is not replying
She hears no earthly song.
The sun and bird are lying
And the night is, O, so long!
poem by Ambrose Bierce
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The World's Wanderers
I.
Tell me, thou Star, whose wings of light
Speed thee in thy fiery flight,
In what cavern of the night
Will thy pinions close now?
II.
Tell me, Moon, thou pale and gray
Pilgrim of Heaven’s homeless way,
In what depth of night or day
Seekest thou repose now?
III.
Weary Wind, who wanderest
Like the world’s rejected guest,
Hast thou still some secret nest
On the tree or billow?
poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley
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The way it goes. (BY A 12 YEAR OLD)
The wind in your hair,
the wind in your face, the wind in your toes,
the wind up in space.
The wind down below,
or even up higher.
as cold as ice,
or as hot as fire.
When the wind tieds down,
the grass stops moving.
The trees are still,
and grandma starts snoring.
The day comes to night,
The sun turns to moon.
Then I have to wait,
till morning to use a spoon.
Good night my child,
now, you rest up good!
for now you'll be sleeping,
aswell as the neighborhood.
So as you sleep,
I'll continue to sing.
and when the day comes
you'll get the chance,
to sing to your kids, my love.
poem by Braylyn Thomasson
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