summer midnight
But even as he fell , he believed himself sinking to rest on Mother Earth 's kindly bosom , and he did not know it , when the cold waves buried him at sea . '' `` Oh , then , he _ did _ die ! '' cried the children , who , though they were tired of stories that end happily , yet , when they heard it , liked a sad ending no better than other children do -LRB- in which , by the bye , we hold them to be in the right , and can hardly forgive ourselves for chronicling this `` ower true tale '' -RRB- . `` Yes , '' said the old man , `` he died ; but it is said that the sweet dingle which was his home -- forsaken by the nightingale -- is regarded by birds as men regard a haunted house ; for that at still summer midnight , when other thrushes sleep , a shadowy form , more like a skeleton leaf than a living bird , swings upon the tall tree-tops where he sat of old , and , rapt in a happy ecstasy , sings a song more sweet and joyous than thrush ever sang by day . '' `` Have you heard it ? '' asked the children . The old man nodded .