Bird Raptures by Christina Georgina Rossetti
The speaker calls for darkness and moonrise to awaken the nightingale, asking for silence so its song can be heard. As the song brings sorrow and delight, the speaker asks the skylark to pause its flight and leave the night to the nightingale.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Nature Poetry, Lyric Poetry · 142 words
First lines
The sunrise wakes the lark to sing, / The moonrise wakes the nightingale. / Come darkness, moonrise, every thing / That is so silent, sweet, and pale: / Come, so ye wake the nightingale.
Make haste to mount, thou wistful moon, / Make haste to wake the nightingale: / Let silence set the world in tune / To hearken to that wordless tale / Which warbles from the nightingale
O herald skylark, stay thy flight / One moment, for a nightingale / Floods us with sorrow and delight. / To-morrow thou shalt hoist the sail; / Leave us to-night the nightingale.
Genres
- Nature Poetry — The verses contrast the lark awakened by sunrise with the nightingale awakened by moonrise.
- Lyric Poetry — Repeated appeals to the moon and birds express the speaker's desire to hear the nightingale's song and its mingled sorrow and delight.
Tags
nightingale · birdsong · moonrise · skylark · silence
What this Textopian page supports
Bird Raptures is listed on Textopian as a poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Christina Georgina Rossetti
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Nature Poetry, Lyric Poetry
- Length: 142 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
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