Tess was awake before dawn — at the marginal minute of the dark when the grove is still mute, save f

Tess was awake before dawn — at the marginal minute of the dark when the grove is still mute, save for one prophetic bird who sings with a clear-voiced conviction that he at least knows the correct time of day, the rest preserving silence as if equally convinced that he is mistaken.
----Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles