The Birds and Poets 21 



but God pity the man who never sees or hears 

 them, when they are all about him! 



One must not be content to take only his body 

 with him into the woods and fields, if he would 

 see and hear and enjoy, for their sights and sounds 

 are a part of the natural scene, and he must make 

 his own spirit a part of such scene if he would 

 have full companionship with it. 



"Lacking the heart-room the song lies dead; 

 Half is the song that reaches the ear, 

 Half is the hearing." 



Bird notes, with some exceptions, are elusive 

 and indefinite, a part of the composite hum and 

 atmosphere of the woods, and to the careless and 

 unsympathetic ear are not naturally or easily 

 detected and detached from the general ensem- 

 ble of woods sounds. But to him who is "fellow 

 to leaf and flower, brook, bee, and bird," all the 

 little voices of woods and fields "speak a various 

 language." 



" 'Kneel,' whispered the breeze; 

 On wistful knees 

 In the swaying grass I sank, 

 While, all around, 

 A soft choral sound 

 Swelled from bower and bank. 



Two tender blows, 



And I arose 



Of sordid aims bereft, 



