“Light-winged Smoke, Icarian Bird...”
by Henry D. Thoreau

Light-winged smoke, Icarian bird,
Melting thy pinions in thy upward flight,
Lark without song, and messenger of dawn,
Circling above the hamlets as thy nest;
Or else, departing dream, and shadowy form
Of midnight vision, gathering up thy skirts;
By night star-veiling, and by day
Darkening the light blotting out the sun;
Go thou my incense upward from this hearth,
And ask the Gods to pardon this clear flame.

A Note on the Text:

• Source: Walden [The Writings of Henry David Thoreau (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1906) p. 279]

• Title from first line

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