Explore "Wings of a Dove (of Birds and Flowers)" by Henry Van Dyke on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
I. At sunset, when the rosy light was dying / Far down the pathway of the west, / I saw a lonely dove in silence flying, / To be at rest.
Pilgrim of air, I cried, could I but borrow / Thy wandering wings, thy freedom blest, / I'd fly away from every careful sorrow, / And find my rest.
II. But when the filmy veil of dusk was falling, / Home flew the dove to seek his nest, / Deep in the forest where his mate was calling / To love and rest.
Peace, heart of mine! no longer sigh to wander; / Lose not thy life in barren quest.
There are no happy islands over yonder; / Come home and rest.
1874.