The Night Bird: A Myth

A floating, a floating Across the sleeping sea, All night I heard a singing bird Upon the topmost tree.

'Oh came you off the isles of Greece, Or off the banks of Seine; Or off some tree in forests free, Which fringe the western main?'

'I came not off the old world Nor yet from off the new-- But I am one of the birds of God Which sing the whole night through.'

'Oh sing, and wake the dawning-- Oh whistle for the wind; The night is long, the current strong, My boat it lags behind.'

'The current sweeps the old world, The current sweeps the new; The wind will blow, the dawn will glow Ere thou hast sailed them through.'

Eversley, 1848.