Bright drops of tune, from oceans infinite 

 Of melody, sipped off the thin-edged wave 

 And trickling down the bank, discourses brave 

 Of serious matter that no man may guess, 

 Good-fellow greetings, cries of light distress ; 

 All these but now within the house are heard : 

 O Death, wast thou too deaf to hear the bird ? 



Sidney Lanier. 



