Song

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Sung by Glycine in Zapolya, Act II. Scene 2.

A sunny shaft did I behold,
From sky to earth it slanted:
And poised therein a bird so bold --
Sweet bird, thou wert enchanted!

He sunk, he rose, he twinkled, he trolled
Within that shaft of sunny mist;
His eyes of fire, his beak of gold,
All else of amethyst!

And thus he sang: Adieu! adieu!
Love's dreams prove seldom true.
The blossoms they make no delay:
The sparking dew-drops will not stay.
Sweet month of May,
We must away;
Far, far away!
To-day! to-day!

1815.