The Parliament of Birds

The trembling birds stared out across the plain;
The road seemed endless as their endless pain.
But in the hoopoe's heart new confidence
Transported him above the firmaments --
The sands could not alarm him nor the high
Harsh sun at noon, the peacock of the sky.
What other bird, throughout the world, could bear
The troubles of the Way and all its care?

The frightened flock drew nearer to its guide.
"You know the perils of the Way," they cried,
"And how we should behave before the king --
You served great Solomon in everything
And flew across his lands -- therefore you know
Exactly where it's safe and right to go;
You've seen the ups and downs of this strange Way.
It is our wish that as our guide you say
How we should act before the king we seek;
And more, as we are ignorant and weak,
That you should solve the problems in our hearts
Before the fearful company departs.
First hear our doubts; the thing we do not doubt
Is that you'll answer them and drive them out --
We know that on this lengthy Way no light
Will come to clear uncertainty's dark night;
But when the heart is free we shall commit
Our hearts and bodies, all we have, to it."

The hoopoe stood to speak, and all the birds
Approached to be encouraged by his words;
A hundred thousand gathered with one mind,
Serried in ranks according to their kind.
The dove and nightingale voiced their complaint;
Such beauty made the company grow faint --
A cry of ecstasy went up; a state
Where neither Self nor void predominate
Fell on the birds. The hoopoe spoke; he drew
The veil from what is ultimately true.
One asked: "How is it that you surpass us in
This search for Truth; what is our crippling sin?
We search and so do you -- but you receive
Truth’s purity while we stand by and grieve."