A LOVELY show for eyes to see <br />I looked upon this morning,-- <br />A bright-hued, feathered company <br />Of nature's own adorning; <br />But ah! those minstrels would not sing <br />A listening ear while I lent,-- <br />The lark sat still and preened his wing, <br />The nightingale was silent; <br />I longed for what they gave me not-- <br />Their warblings sweet and fluty, <br />But grateful still for all I got <br />I thanked them for their beauty. <br /> <br />A fairer vision meets my view <br />Of Claras, Margarets, Marys, <br />In silken robes of varied hue, <br />Like bluebirds and canaries; <br />The roses blush, the jewels gleam, <br />The silks and satins glisten, <br />The black eyes flash, the blue eyes beam, <br />We look--and then we listen <br />Behold the flock we cage to-night-- <br />Was ever such a capture? <br />To see them is a pure delight; <br />To hear them--ah! what rapture! <br /> <br />Methinks I hear Delilah's laugh <br />At Samson bound in fetters; <br />'We captured!' shrieks each lovelier half, <br />'Men think themselves our betters! <br />We push the bolt, we turn the key <br />On warriors, poets, sages, <br />Too happy, all of them, to be <br />Locked in our golden cages!' <br />Beware! the boy with bandaged eyes <br />Has flung away his blinder; <br /> <br />He 's lost his mother--so he cries-- <br />And here he knows he'll find her: <br />The rogue! 't is but a new device,-- <br />Look out for flying arrows <br />Whene'er the birds of Paradise <br />Are perched amid the sparrows!<br /><br />Oliver Wendell Holmes<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/at-the-papyrus-club/
