A day and then a week passed by: The redbird hanging from the sill Sang not; and all were wondering why It was so still— When one bright morning, loud and clear, Its whistle smote my drowsy ear, Ten times repeated, till the sound Filled every echoing niche around; And all things earliest loved by me,— The bird, the brook, the flower, the tree,— Came back again, as thus I heard The cardinal bird my word