A Nightingale, that all day long
Had cheer’d the village with his song,
Nor yet at eve his note suspended,
Nor yet when eventide was ended,
Began to feel, as well he might,
The keen demands of appetite;
When, looking eagerly around
He spied far off, upon the ground,
A something shining in the dark,
And knew the glowworm by his spark;
So stooping down from hawthorn top,
He thought to put him in his crop.
The worm, aware of his intent,
Harangued him thus, right eloquent—
Did you admire my lamp, quoth he,
As much as I your minstrelsy,
You would abhor to do me wrong
As much as I to spoil your song;
For ’twas the self-same Power divine
Taught you to sing, and me to shine;
That you with music, I with light,
Might beautify and cheer the night.
The songster heard his short oration.
And, warbling out his approbation,
Released him, as my story tells,
And found a supper somewhere else.
Hence jarring sectaries may learn
Their real interest to discern;
That brother should not war with brother,
And worry and devour each other;
But sing and shine by sweet consent,
Till life’s poor transient night is spent,
Respecting in each other’s case
The gifts of nature and of grace.
Those Christians best deserve the name
Who studiously make peace their aim;
Peace both the duty and the prize
Of him that creeps and him that flies.
The Life and Works of William Cowper (1849) | William Cowper (1731–1800)
Suggestions
Ask your students to do one or more of the following:
- Read the poem aloud.
- Copy the poem on Drawing and Writing paper. Illustrate the drawing with a representative illustration. (Younger students may want to copy only the last two verses.)
- Determine the rhyme scheme of the poem (AABB).
- Older students can narrate the poem and explain the meaning.
- Nightingales are common in Europe and Asia. They are a member of the thrush family. Learn more about the nightingale.
- Read “A Singing Lesson” by Jean Ingelow.
- Compare and contrast the two poems.
- Learn more about the glowworm in Fabre’s Book of Insects.
- Older students can rewrite the poem in short story form.
- Younger students can orally tell the story.
Additional Resources
14 Forms of Writing for the Older Student: Poetry
Ideas for doing more with the poem.
