Like to a swarm of birds, with jarring cries br Descend on me my swarming memories; br Light mid the yellow leaves, that shake and sigh, br Of the bowed alder--that is even I!-- br Brooding its shadow in the violet br Unprofitable river of Regret. br They settle screaming--Then the evil sound, br By the moist wind's impatient hushing drowned, br Dies by degrees, till nothing more is heard br Save the lone singing of a single bird, br Save the clear voice--O singer, sweetly done!-- br Warbling the praises of the Absent One.... br And in the silence of a summer night br Sultry and splendid, by a late moon's light br That sad and sallow peers above the hill, br The humid hushing wind that ranges still br Rocks to a whispered sleepsong languidly br The bird lamenting and the shivering tree.