Valentine III - Love is feathered like a bird

from Three Valentines .​.​. Elizabeth Bishop (2017) by Thomas Oboe Lee

/

lyrics

Love is feathered like a bird
to keep him warm,
to keep him safe from harm,
And by what winds or drafts his nest is stirred
they chill not Love.
Warm lives he:
No warmth gives off,
or none to me.

Claws he has like any hawk
to clutch and keep,
to clutch so he may sleep
while round the red heart’s perch his claws can lock
and fasten Love.
His hold he’ll not resign,
nor from the heart fall off,
or not from mine.

At nights the grackle Love will start
to shriek and shrill,
nor will he once be still
till he has wide awake the backward heart.
So selfish Love,
Go hush;
Feathers and claws take off
or seek some bush.

Elizabeth Bishop

credits

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Thomas Oboe Lee Cambridge, Massachusetts

Thomas Oboe Lee was born in China in 1945. He lived in São Paulo, Brazil, for six years before coming to the United States in 1966. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, he studied composition at the New England Conservatory and Harvard University. He has been a member of the music faculty at Boston College since 1990. ... more

contact / help

Contact Thomas Oboe Lee

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Thomas Oboe Lee, you may also like: