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A Robert Frost Hummingbird Poem......
                  "A Prayer in Spring"

By James & Ruth White

A Robert Frost Hummingbird Poem:

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stand still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill.

As a Vermonter, I am happy to include this Robert Frost hummingbird poem.

Frost lived in both New Hampshire and Vermont and his poem "A Prayer in Spring" is an example of his famous rural imagery capturing the beauty of this region.

His emotional tribute to the hummingbird is profound:

“And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,”

Our breath is then stopped short with the last line:
“And off a blossom in mid air stands still.”

In this Robert Frost hummingbird poem, we feel the sacredness of being united in this pure moment with the hovering hummingbird.
There is no need to look ahead.
The timelessness of the here and now is all that is needed.

Frost is referring to the hovering flight of the hummingbird.

(Watch a video and learn more about hummingbird flight)

James & Ruth White

James and Ruth White are Certified Hummingbird Habitat stewards with the International Hummingbird Society, specializing in backyard hummingbird care, behavior, and conservation. With 45+ years of hands-on experience, they have cared for over 1,000 hummingbirds, built two large perennial gardens, and support a community of 30,000+ subscribers through hummingbird-guide.com, their widely followed migration map, and active social channels. They observe hummingbirds daily across 12 home feeders and document their behavior through photography and video.