George Willis Cooke, comp. The Poets of Transcendentalism: An Anthology. 1903.
Golden Crown Sparrow of AlaskaJohn Burroughs (18371921)
O
Where twilight hours are long,
I would my boyhood’s fragrant days
Had known thy plaintive song;
Thy coat of drab and brown,
The bands of jet upon thy head
That clasp thy golden crown.
Where cloud and mountain meet,
Again where Muir’s glacier shone
Far spread beneath our feet.
To catch thy faintest strain,
But cannot tell if in thy lay
Be more of joy or pain.
Athwart the sea’s blue-shade;
Anear there rise green Kadiak hills,
Wherein thy nest is made.
In airs that swim above;
The lesser hermit tunes his flute
To solitude and love.
I give more heed to thee;
Thy wistful note of fond regret
Strikes deeper chords in me.
To other skies than thine—
A thousand leagues of land and sea
Between thy home and mine.