Sentence:  The birds <WSD>were</WSD> really awake now in a colloquy of music , and light was beginning to creep across the room , touching sill and door , table and chair and all of Doaty 's flowers in their artificial blossom and leaf . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)