quote · Legacy record
Sweet bird! thou sing’st away the early hours Of winter past, or coming, void of care, Well pleased with delights, which present are,— Fair seasons, budding sprays, sweet smelling flowers, To rocks, to springs, to rills, from leafy bowers, Thou thy Creator’s goodness dost declare, And what dear gifts on thee he did not spare, A stain to human sense in sin that lowers; What soul can be so sick, which by thy songs (Alter’d in sweetness,) sweetly is not driven Quite to forget earth’s turmoils, spites, and wrongs, And lift a reverend eye and thought to Heaven? Sweet artless songster, thou my mind dost raise To air of spheres, yes, and to angels’ lays.
Sweet bird! thou sing’st away the early hours Of winter past, or coming, void of care, Well pleased with delights, which present are,— Fair seasons, budding sprays, sweet smelling flowers, To rocks, to springs, to rills, from leafy bowers, Thou thy Creator’s goodness dost declare, And what dear gifts on thee he did not spare, A stain to human sense in sin that lowers; What soul can be so sick, which by thy songs (Alter’d in sweetness,) sweetly is not driven Quite to forget earth’s turmoils, spites, and wrongs, And lift a reverend eye and thought to Heaven? Sweet artless songster, thou my mind dost raise To air of spheres, yes, and to angels’ lays.
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
- W. Drummond (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 68 · printed citation: W. Drummond · subject: BIRDS—FOWLS
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.