Unknown Influence [poem by William Blocksidge (William Baylebridge)]

[Editor: This poem by William Blocksidge (also known as William Baylebridge) was published in Songs o’ the South (1908).]

Unknown Influence

The warbler sweetly to its lover sings;
Yet all the wood with bated breath awaits
The melody that through its temple rings —
Thus dream we not o’ the scope each deed creates.

Source:
William Blocksidge, Songs o’ the South, London: Watts, 1908, p. 79

Editor’s notes:
bated = restrained, to have reduced the force or intensity of something (the phrase “with bated breath” refers to waiting for something in a anxious, nervous, or worried state, or in an excited manner, or in a state of suspense); (archaic) to have lowered or reduced an amount, estimation, or price

o’ = abbreviation of the word “of”