quote · Legacy record
Birds, joyous birds, of the wandering wing! Whence is it ye come with the flowers of spring? —“We come from the shores of the green old Nile, From the land where the roses of Sharon smile, From the palms that wave through the Indian sky, From the myrrh trees of glowing Araby. A change we have found, and many a change! Faces, and footsteps, and all things strange! Gone are the heads of the silvery hair, And the young that were have a brow of care, And the place is hushed where the children played— Nought looks the same, save the nests we made!” Sad is your tale of the beautiful earth, Birds that o’ersweep it in power and mirth! Yet through the wastes of the trackless air Ye have a guide, and shall we despair? Ye over desert and deep have passed— So shall we reach our bright home at last.
Birds, joyous birds, of the wandering wing! Whence is it ye come with the flowers of spring? —“We come from the shores of the green old Nile, From the land where the roses of Sharon smile, From the palms that wave through the Indian sky, From the myrrh trees of glowing Araby. A change we have found, and many a change! Faces, and footsteps, and all things strange! Gone are the heads of the silvery hair, And the young that were have a brow of care, And the place is hushed where the children played— Nought looks the same, save the nests we made!” Sad is your tale of the beautiful earth, Birds that o’ersweep it in power and mirth! Yet through the wastes of the trackless air Ye have a guide, and shall we despair? Ye over desert and deep have passed— So shall we reach our bright home at last.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Mrs. Hemans (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 70 · printed citation: Mrs. Hemans · subject: BIRDS—FOWLS
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.