THE BIRD OF TIME - by Sarojini Naidu

 

THE  BIRD  OF  TIME by  Sarojini  Naidu O Bird of Time on your fruitful boughWhat are the songs you sing ? ...Songs of the glory and gladness of life,Of poignant sorrow and passionate strife,And the lilting joy of the spring;Of hope that sows for the years unborn,And faith that dreams of a tarrying morn,The fragrant peace of the twilight's breath,And the mystic silence that men call death. O Bird of Time, say where did you learnThe changing measures you sing ? ...In blowing forests and breaking tides,In the happy laughter of new-made brides,And the nests of the new-born spring;In the dawn that thrills to a mother's prayer,And the night that shelters a heart's despair,In the sigh of pity, the sob of hate,And the pride of a soul that has conquered fate.