* Calls : : Carl Sandburg : :
BECAUSE I have called to you
as the flame flamingo calls,
or the want of a spotted hawk
is called—
because in the dusk
the warblers shoot the running
waters of short songs to the
homecoming warblers—
because
the cry here is wing to wing
and song to song—
I am waiting,
waiting with the flame flamingo,
the spotted hawk, the running water
warbler—
waiting for you.
— Carl Sandburg
** Evening Waterfall : : Carl Sandburg : :
WHAT was the name you called me?—
And why did you go so soon?
The crows lift their caw on the wind,
And the wind changed and was lonely.
The warblers cry their sleepy-songs
Across the valley gloaming,
Across the cattle-horns of early stars.
Feathers and people in the crotch of a treetop
Throw an evening waterfall of sleepy-songs.
What was the name you called me?—
And why did you go so soon?
— Carl Sandburg
* * * HOW SHALL I WOO THEE : : Paul Laurence Dunbar : :
How shall I woo thee to win thee, mine own?
Say in what tongue shall I tell of my love.
I who was fearless so timid have grown,
All that was eagle has turned into dove.
The path from the meadow that leads to the bars
Is more to me now than the path of the stars.
How shall I woo thee to win thee, mine own,
Thou who art fair and as far as the moon?
Had I the strength of the torrent’s wild tone,
Had I the sweetness of warblers in June;
The strength and the sweetness might charm and persuade,
But neither have I my petition to aid.
How shall I woo thee to win thee, mine own?
How shall I traverse the distance between
My humble cot and your glorious throne?
How shall a clown gain the ear of a queen?
Oh teach me the tongue that shall please thee the best,
For till I have won thee my heart may not rest.
— Paul Laurence Dunbar
* V : : Yellow Warblers : : by Katharine Lee Bates
▼
The first faint dawn was flushing up the skies
When, dreamland still bewildering mine eyes,
I looked out to the oak that, winter-long,
— A winter wild with war and woe and wrong —
Beyond my casement had been void of song.
And lo! with golden buds the twigs were set,
Live buds that warbled like a rivulet
Beneath a veil of willows. Then I knew
Those tiny voices, clear as drops of dew,
Those flying daffodils that fleck the blue,
Those sparkling visitants from myrtle isles,
Wee pilgrims of the sun, that measure miles
Innumerable over land and sea
With wings of shining inches. Flakes of glee,
They filled that dark old oak with jubilee,
Foretelling in delicious roundelays
Their dainty courtships on the dipping sprays,
How they should fashion nests, mate helping mate,
Of milkweed flax and fern-down delicate
To keep sky-tinted eggs inviolate.
Listening to those blithe notes, I slipped once more
From lyric dawn through dreamland’s open door,
And there was God, Eternal Life that sings.
Eternal joy, brooding all mortal things,
A nest of stars, beneath untroubled wings.
Memorize Poem
— Katharine Lee Bates
V : : The Maryland Yellow-Throat : : by Henry Van Dyke
▼
When May bedecks the naked trees
With tassels and embroideries,
And many blue-eyed violets beam
Along the edges of the stream,
I hear a voice that seems to say,
Now near at hand, now far away,
“Witchery—witchery—witchery.”
An incantation so serene,
So innocent, befits the scene:
There’s magic in that small bird’s note—
See, there he flits—the Yellow-throat;
A living sunbeam, tipped with wings,
A spark of light that shines and sings
“Witchery—witchery—witchery.”
You prophet with a pleasant name,
If out of Mary-land you came,
You know the way that thither goes
Where Mary’s lovely garden grows:
Fly swiftly back to her, I pray,
And try, to call her down this way,
“Witchery—witchery—witchery!”
Tell her to leave her cockle-shells,
And all her little silver bells
That blossom into melody,
And all her maids less fair than she.
She does not need these pretty things,
For everywhere she comes, she brings
“Witchery—witchery—witchery!”
The woods are greening overhead,
And flowers adorn each mossy bed;
The waters babble as they run—
One thing is lacking, only one:
If Mary were but here to-day,
I would believe your charming lay,
“Witchery—witchery—witchery!”
Along the shady road I look—
Who’s coming now across the brook?
A woodland maid, all robed in white—
The leaves dance round her with delight,
The stream laughs out beneath her feet—
Sing, merry bird, the charm’s complete,
“Witchery—witchery—witchery!”
V * : : The Scituate Bird : :byAnonymous. : : : :
▼
Where is your “Scituate, Scituate, Scituate,”
Bright little warbler up in the tree?
I know a Scituate, Scituate, Scituate,
I know a Scituate hard by the sea,
New England Scituate, plain little Scituate,
Dear little Scituate quaint as can be.
Is that your “Scituate, Scituate, Scituate,”
Is that the theme of your whistling song?
Or some mysterious Scituate, Scituate.
Far in the land where the fairies belong?
Other quite misty, impalpable Scituate,
Whither the fairies and singing birds throng?
Gold-breasted chanter of “Scituate, Scituate,”
Whence came the gold? It was surely from there
Bright-throated lover of “Scituate, Scituate,”
Warm is the glow of your Scituate fair!
Vigorous praiser of “Scituate, Scituate,”
Surely that region surpasses compare!
Lead me, gay warbler to Scituate, Scituate;
Close will I follow wherever you fly.
I would see Scituate, Scituate, Scituate,
Vocal with carols and bright to the eye;
Yes, I would live in your Scituate, Scituate,
Live there and sing there till singing I die.
The Maryland Yellowthroat, whose song to many is “witchery, witchery, witchery, witch!” to the author calls the name of the Massachusetts seaside village of Scituate. : :
V * * : : Pending.. .













































