Poem by Sara Coleridge

The Nightingale

In April comes the Nightingale,
That sings when day's departed;
The poets call her Philomel,
And vow she's broken-hearted.

To them her soft, sweet, ling'ring note
Is like the sound of sorrow;
But some aver, no need hath she
The voice of grief to borrow.

No, 'tis the merry Nightingale,
Her pipe is clear and thrilling;
No anxious care, no keen regret,
Her little breast is filling.

She grieves when boys have robb'd her nest,
But so would Stork or Starling;
What mother would not weep and cry
To lose her precious darling? 

1. O Sleep, My Babe
2. The Week
3. The Garden Year

Mark Akenside The Nightingale ("To-night retired, the queen of heaven")

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