Classic Poem

I SAW a bird in the air at morn,
Cleaving the sky where the stars had gone;
But in the still noon-day,
A weary, wounded, and helpless thing,
Drooping its head and tired its wing,
It dying lay.

I saw a ship on the open sea,
Spreading its sails and fearlessly
Courting the wind and wave;
But the breakers met it on the shore,
The ship went down and was seen no more, —
The deep its grave.

I saw a star in the stilly night,
Shine with as steady, burning light,
As any among them all;
Then flash and waver, and brilliant still,
Seemingly change its course at will,
And sudden fall.

And so in his youthful strength, he fell,
One whom we knew and cherished well,
So sped his life away;
A meteor flashing through the night;
A proud bark sinking out of sight;
A dying bird that soared so light
At break of day.