Oh, stay, sweet warbling woodlark, stay, Nor quit for me the trembling spray, A hapless lover courts thy lay, Thy soothing, fond complaining. BurnsAddress to the Woodlark.
The merry lark he soars on high, No worldly thought oertakes him. He sings aloud to the clear blue sky, And the daylight that awakes him. Hartley ColeridgeSong.
The lark now leaves his watery nest, And climbing, shakes his dewy wings. He takes your window for the East And to implore your light he sings. Sir William DavenantThe Lark now Leaves his Watery Nest.
The pretty Lark, climbing the Welkin cleer, Chaunts with a cheer, Heer peerI neer my Deer; Then stooping thence (seeming her fall to rew) Adieu (she saith) adieu, deer Deer, adieu. Du BartasWeekes and Workes. Fifth Day.
Musical cherub, soar, singing, away! Then, when the gloaming comes, Low in the heather blooms Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be! Emblem of happiness, Blest is thy dwelling-place O, to abide in the desert with thee! HoggThe Skylark.
None but the lark so shrill and clear; Now at heavens gate she claps her wings, The morn not waking till she sings. LylyAlexander and Campaspe. Act V. Sc. 1.
To hear the lark begin his flight, And singing startle the dull Night, From his watch-tower in the skies, Till the dappled dawn doth rise. MiltonLAllegro. L. 41.
And now the herald lark Left his ground-nest, high towring to descry The morns approach, and greet her with his song. MiltonParadise Regained. Bk. II. L. 279.
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. MontgomeryHumility.
I said to the sky-poised Lark: Harkhark! Thy note is more loud and free Because there lies safe for thee A little nest on the ground. D. M. MulockA Rhyme About Birds.
O happy skylark springing Up to the broad, blue sky, Too fearless in thy winging, Too gladsome in thy singing, Thou also soon shalt lie Where no sweet notes are ringing. Christina G. RossettiGone Forever. St. 2.
Hark! hark! the lark at heavens gate sings, And Phbus gins arise, His steeds to water at those springs On chalicd flowers that lies. And winking Mary-buds begin To ope their golden eyes; With everything that pretty is, My lady sweet, arise! Cymbeline. Act II. Sc. 3. Song. L. 21.
Some say, that ever gainst that season comes Wherein our Saviours birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning singeth all night long: And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad; The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike, No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm, So hallowd and so gracious is the time. Hamlet. Act I. Sc. 1. L. 158.
Lo! here the gentle lark, weary of rest, From his moist cabinet mounts up on high, And wakes the morning, from whose silver breast The sun ariseth in his majesty. Venus and Adonis. L. 853.
Hail to thee blithe Spirit! Bird thou never wert, That from Heaven, or near it, Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. ShelleyTo a Skylark. St. 1.
Better than all measures Of delightful sound, Better than all treasures That in books are found, Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground! ShelleyTo a Skylark. St. 20.
Up springs the lark, Shrill-voiced, and loud, the messenger of morn; Ere yet the shadows fly, he mounted sings Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts Calls up the tuneful nations. ThomsonThe Seasons. Spring. L. 587.
Ethereal minstrel! pilgrim of the sky! Dost thou despise the earth where cares abound? Or, while the wings aspire, are heart and eye Both with thy nest upon the dewy ground? Thy nest which thou canst drop into at will, Those quivering wings composed, that music still! WordsworthPoems of the Imagination. To a Skylark.
Leave to the nightingale her shady wood; A privacy of glorious light is thine: Whence thou dost pour upon the world a flood Of harmony, with instinct more divine: Type of the wise who soar, but never roam: True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home! WordsworthPoems of the Imagination. To a Skylark.