James Montgomery

Nearest the throne itself must be
The footstool of humility.

Nearest the throne itself must be
The footstool of humility.

Golden Bill! Golden Bill!
Lo, the peep of day;
All the air is cool and still,
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Golden Bill! Golden Bill!
Lo, the peep of day;
All the air is cool and still,
From the elm-tree on the hill,
Chant away:
. . . .
Let thy loud and welcome lay
Pour alway
Few notes but strong.

Nimbly they seized and secreted their prey,
Alive and wriggling in the elastic net,
Which Nature hung read more

Nimbly they seized and secreted their prey,
Alive and wriggling in the elastic net,
Which Nature hung beneath their grasping beaks;
Till, swoln, with captures, the unwieldy burden
Clogg'd their slow flight, as heavily to land,
These mighty hunters of the deep return'd.
There on the cragged cliffs they perch'd at ease,
Gorging their hapless victims one by one;
Then full and weary, side by side, they slept,
Till evening roused them to the chase again.

Blue thou art, intensely blue;
Flower, whence came thy dazzling hue?

Blue thou art, intensely blue;
Flower, whence came thy dazzling hue?

A work of skill, surpassing sense,
A labor of Omnipotence;
Though frail as dust it meet thine read more

A work of skill, surpassing sense,
A labor of Omnipotence;
Though frail as dust it meet thine eye,
He form'd this gnat who built the sky.