I Saw a White Bird Flying
Language: English 
I saw a white bird flying
Against the evening sky,
It might have been a heron
Lonely as you or I.
It might have been a figment
Of a tired, bewildered mind,
But the bird was headed homeward,
Leaving the world behind.
It might have been the spirit
Of one whose sleep that day
Had overflowed the borders
Of mortal flesh and clay.

Confirmed with John Robert Quinn, I Saw a White Bird Flying, in: The American Mercury, April 1946, p.492


Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):


Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2025-09-22
Line count: 12
Word count: 63