The poet questions of the title entity "Seek'st thou the plashy brink...?" and the title entity was earlier asked "dost thou pursue / Thy solitary way?"
The poet of this work changed the words "painted on" to "seen against" in the second stanza, explaining the change to Richard Henry Dana as avoiding a falsely picturesque expression.  This poem was inspired by a seven-mile walk from Cummington to Plainfield, and the speaker notes that the title entity has disappeared because "the abyss of heaven / Hath swallowed up thy form."  The poet questions of the title entity "Seek'st thou the plashy brink...?" and the title entity was earlier asked "dost thou pursue / Thy solitary way?" Concluding that "He, who from zone to zone / Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight" will "lead my steps aright," FTP, name this poem about a bird by William Cullen Bryant.
The poet of this work changed the words "painted on" to "seen against" in the second stanza, explaining the change to Richard Henry Dana as avoiding a falsely picturesque expression.  
“{To a Waterfowl}” (4) [AH]