Attentive student of the songs of birds, No beakèd beast hath e'er more sweetly trill'd A pair of notes or call'd in major thirds Or minor with musicality more skill'd. Adaptive linguist, practic'd in the tongue Of wingèd feather'd creatures, thou hast writ Into "The Birdsong Songbook" songs unsung By birds which yet harmoniously fit. And though the book began in higher throats Diversely tun'd by Nature's artful hand Ere measur'd were the times and tones of notes, (Which often rest them now upon a stand), Its finest lines (o'er which I now do rave) Witness thy penmanship on every stave.