Page:In Bohemia (1886).djvu/22




 * A soft-breasted bird from the sea
 * Fell in love with the light-house flame;

And it wheeled round the tower on its airiest wing, And floated and cried like a lovelorn thing; It brooded all day and it fluttered all night, But could win no look from the steadfast light.


 * For the flame had its heart afar,—
 * Afar with the ships at sea;

It was thinking of children and waiting wives, And darkness and danger to sailors' lives; But the bird had its tender bosom pressed On the glass where at last it dashed its breast.
 * The light only flickered, the brighter to glow;
 * But the bird lay dead on the rocks below.