198 June — The Nightingale. 



its own about truth, where truth is studied earnestly, yet 

 never uttered without reserve. Here is one stanza : — 



'He. 

 * Permets qu'a ton corsage 

 Je place ce bouquet, 

 A tes pieds ce feuillage, 

 Sur ta tete ces bluets ! 



She. 

 Monsieur, tout 9a m'ennuie, 



Moi qui n'ai qu'mes sabiots, 

 S'il vous en prend l'envie 



J'vous les casserai d'sus le dos.' 



XXXVII. 



The Nightingale — His wonderful Voice — His various Emotional Ex- 

 pression — His Music is also Poetry and Eloquence — The Charm of 

 the Nightingale's Singing — Byron — The Opening of 'Parisina' — 

 The Nightingale sings on a height — Chaucer's Love of the Night- 

 ingale — Goldfinch and Nightingale — A Poet's Paradise — Tradition 

 amongst the Peasants — Buffon's Description of the Nightingale's 

 Song — The Talk of the Birds — The Secret of the Bird-Language. 



AS an eloquent speaker dislikes interruption, and 

 never attempts to display his eloquence when 

 he cannot be sure of silence round about him, so the 

 nightingale says nothing in the daytime, when a thousand 

 other voices and noises of all kinds would interrupt his 

 melodious utterance, but reserves it for the silence of 

 the night, when he alone is king of the forest, and he 

 may fancy that all other creatures are listening. His 



