BIRD of the Tropic! thou, who lov'st to stray <br />Where thy long pinions sweep the sultry Line, <br />Or mark'st the bounds which torrid beams confine <br />By thy averted course, that shuns the ray <br />Oblique, enamour'd of sublimer day: <br />Oft on yon cliff thy folded plumes recline, <br />And drop those snowy feathers Indians twine, <br />To crown the warrior's brow with honours gay. <br />O'er trackless oceans what impels thy wing? <br />Does no soft instinct in thy soul prevail? <br />No sweet affection to thy bosom cling, <br />And bid thee oft thy absent nest bewail?-- <br />Yet thou again to that dear spot canst spring, <br />But I no more my long-lost home shall hail!<br /><br />Helen Maria Williams<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-to-the-white-bird-of-the-tropic/
