Answer to a Child's Question
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Do you ask what the birds say? The sparrow, the dove,
The linner and thrush say, "I love and I love!"
In the winter they're silent - the wind is so strong;
What is says, I don't know, but it sings a loud song.
But green leaves, and blossoms, and sunny warm weather,
And singing, and loving - all come back together.
But the lark is so brimful of gladness and love,
The green fields below him, the blue sky above,
That he sings, and he sings; and for ever sings he-
"I love my Love, and my Love loves me!"
The linner and thrush say, "I love and I love!"
In the winter they're silent - the wind is so strong;
What is says, I don't know, but it sings a loud song.
But green leaves, and blossoms, and sunny warm weather,
And singing, and loving - all come back together.
But the lark is so brimful of gladness and love,
The green fields below him, the blue sky above,
That he sings, and he sings; and for ever sings he-
"I love my Love, and my Love loves me!"
I love the seasonal references in the waning and waxing of the lines. How sometimes the birds sing of love loud and clear and how other times throughout the year, like the sky and weather, they are silent, but still present. Reflections on god and how he capitalizes "Love" in the last sentence! I like how, because a child's poem, no explanation is needed for reference to literal spirituality- it can just be a poem about birds singing...
ReplyDeleteDo you think of birds being so loving?
ReplyDeleteThe rhythm of the poem is fun. "All come back together" like the poem. The rhyme connects ideas.