Between the cliff-rise and the beach <br />A slip of emerald I own; <br />With fig and olive, almond, peach, <br />cherry and plum-tree overgrown; <br />Glad-watered by a crystal spring <br />That carols through the silver night, <br />And populous with birds who sing <br />Gay madrigals for my delight. <br /> <br />Some merchants fain would buy my land <br />To build a stately pleasure dome. <br />Poor fools! they cannot understand <br />how pricelessly it is my home! <br />So luminous with living wings, <br />So musical with feathered joy . . . <br />Not for all pleasure fortune brings, <br />Would I such ecstasy destroy. <br /> <br />A thousand birds are in my grove, <br />Melodious from morn to night; <br />My fruit trees are their treasure trove, <br />Their happiness is my delight. <br />And through the sweet and shining days <br />They know their lover and their friend; <br />So I will shield in peace and praise <br />My innocents unto the end.<br /><br />Robert William Service<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bird-sanctuary/
