A SOFT-BREASTED bird from the sea
Fell in love with the light-house flame;
And it wheeled round the tower on its airiest wing,
And floated and cried like a lovelorn thing;
It brooded all day and it fluttered all night,
But could win no look from the steadfast light.
For the flame had its heart afar,-
Afar with the ships at sea;
It was thinking of children and waiting wives,
And darkness and danger to sailors’ lives;
But the bird had its tender bosom pressed
On the glass where at last it dashed its breast.
The light only flickered, the brighter to glow;
But the bird lay dead on the rocks below.
(John Boyle O Reilly)
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Based on Topics: Love Poems, Night Poems, Light Poems, Birds Poems, Children PoemsBased on Keywords: lovelorn, light-house, airiest, soft-breasted