Classic Poem

Is it a monster bee,
Or is it a midget bird,
Or yet an air-born mystery
That now the marigold has stirred,
And now on vocal wing
To a neighbor bloom is whirred,
In an aery ecstasy; in a passion of pilfering?

Ah! 'tis the humming-bird,
Rich-coated one,
Ruby-throated one,
That is not chosen for song,
But throws its whole rapt sprite
Into the secrets of flowers
The summer days along,
Into most odorous hours,
Into a murmurous sound of wings too swift for sight!