Crickets at Dawn

All night the crickets chirp,
Like little stars of twinkling sound
In the dark silence.

They sparkle through the summer stillness
With a crisp rhythm:
They lift the shadows on their tiny voices.

But at the shining note of birds that wake,
Flashing from tree to tree till all the woods is lit -
O golden coloratura of dawn! -
The cricket-stars fade slowly,
One by one.

- Leonora Speyer (1872-1956)