| Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891. | | | | The Mocking Bird | | By Sidney Lanier (1842–1881) |
| | | SUPERB and sole, upon a plumèd spray | |
| That o’er the general leafage boldly grew, | |
| He summ’d the woods in song; or typic drew | |
| The watch of hungry hawks, the lone dismay | |
| Of languid doves when long their lovers stray, | 5 |
| And all birds’ passion-plays that sprinkle dew | |
| At morn in brake or bosky avenue. | |
| Whate’er birds did or dreamed, this bird could say. | |
| Then down he shot, bounced airily along | |
| The sward, twitched in a grasshopper, made song | 10 |
| Midflight, perched, prinked, and to his art again. | |
| Sweet Science, this large riddle read me plain: | |
| How may the death of that dull insect be | |
| The life of yon trim Shakspere on the tree? | | | | |
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