A bird and flower upon the tree, <br />Sweet peony and oriole, <br />Each of them a perfect soul, <br />Song and sweetness manifest <br />The bird and flower we love the best <br />Side by side on the tall tree. <br /> <br />'Flower who art sunlight and fire, flower who art perfume and joy, <br />Sweetest of sweet, <br />Ah for the gift withheld! <br />Ah for the given gift's alloy! <br />Why must thy spirit exhale only in beauty and breath? <br />Ah for the voice thou hast not! I by thy side on the tree, <br />Telling the world of love, pain, and all raptures that be, <br />Raptures of laughter and life, raptures of tears and death, <br />Singing my heart to heaven, singing to earth at my feet; <br />Silence in thee.' <br /> <br />'Bird who art dew-drops and flame, bird who art rapture and song, <br />Sweetest of sweet, <br />Lo there's a voice part mine, songs that to me too belong, <br />Songs that grew of my growth, voice that has breathed my breath. <br />Bird that while I sit mute singest beside on the tree, <br />Hast thou ever a song taking no perfume of me? <br />Give forth my sweetness in song; bird, thou art singing for both, <br />Singing our hearts to heaven, singing to earth at our feet; <br />My voice in thee.' <br /> <br />On the tree-top side by side, <br />Sweet oriole and peony; <br />Music rings through earth and sky, <br />Sweet and sweet in sweetness lost <br />The flower and bird we love the most, <br />On the tree-top side by side.<br /><br />Augusta Davies Webster<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-bird-and-flower-upon-the-tree/
