James Montgomery

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

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

Fairest and best adorned is she
Whose clothing is humility.

Fairest and best adorned is she
Whose clothing is humility.

The bird that soars on highest wing,
Builds on the ground her lowly nest;
And she that read more

The bird that soars on highest wing,
Builds on the ground her lowly nest;
And she that doth most sweetly sing,
Sings in the shade when all things rest:
In lark and nightingale we see
What honor hath humility.

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.

Golden Bill! Golden Bill!
Lo, the peep of day;
All the air is cool and still,
read more

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.