The Hermit Thrush 



By Harry Edward Miller 



Thou dweller in the quiet wood ; 

 Thou singer of ecstatic mood, 



Not in thy pure theme is heard 

 The lark in song above his brood ; 

 The English blackbird's message good ; 

 Or the nightingale's interlude, 



That have oft the listener stirred. 



But here in forest land remote 



The new world knows thy magic throat ; 



That music of a soul serene; 

 That spirit which in tranquil note 

 Doth through the mystic forest float 

 In melody that always must denote 



Word from a land no eyes have seen. 



Under the lofty Druid trees. 



No sweeter sound upon the breeze 



Is borne like his lyric-anthem rare ! 

 The lark is on the open leas ; 

 In clover field the hum of bees ; 

 But the woodland old this poet sees, 



Who sings of a far country fair. 



Who tells as one who has returned 

 From where celestial secrets learned, 



He breathes upon the forest ways ; 

 He speaks as one far more concerned 

 Of countries we dimly have discerned ; 

 And his note our thought hath turned, 



And lifted up our wistful gaze. 



Audubon's Oriole {icterus anduhonU) 



The name oriole is from the French word oriol, which is a corruption of the 

 Latin word aureolus, meaning golden. The name was originally applied to a 

 vire, but is now used in a much wider sense and includes a number of birds. 



The true orioles are birds of the Old World and are closely related to the 

 thrushes. It is said that no fewer than twenty species from Asia and Africa have 

 been described. 



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