Seabird of the Broken Wing

Seabird of the broken wing.
For you no more wild wandering !
Soaring heart and tameless eye
Woo passionately sea and sky ;
Even as of old you long to fly ;
Ah, never more ! O child of air
And ocean, now let dim despair
Close your lids, lie down and die !
For what may homely Patience bring
To soothe the bird of broken wing?

October 1890.