1. I passed by the early-morning singers, as if
They learnt with the dawn a fragrant trill,

2. Speckled like the black partridge, you’d think its hue
Was coloured from a rain cloud’s polished skin.

3. It seemed to bare its throat-band for my eyes,
And an eyelash fine as a gazelle’s kohl’d rim,

4. With a tail both sides the equal that strips bare
A flowering twig or plucks a fruitful stem.

5. When it took to the air it left me watching
Its wings beat out a murmur or soft jingle.