TO SPARROW?

Otago Witness, Issue 2436, 21 November 1900, Page 58

TO SPARROW?

I love the rustic paths of life, The meads . that daisies sprinkle, The hawthorn hedge, the lakelet's sedge, The sheep-bell's drowby unkle. I love the faiTn, the stack, the barn, The ploughshare and the 'harrow, And so, rnethinks, fit bard am I To sing the homely sparrow. Great songsters of the night and morn, .That charm the grove a,id iurrow, A thousand hards your praises t souu'd ""For one thai sings the sparrow. But O, be hushed, yo nightingales, ".Be hush'd ye, larks and lirmats, - \ While I to my poor friends devote A few indulgent minutes. Unlike the feathered queens of song,* ' They love ,with man to neighbour, ,, t Or 'neath the marble palace eaves, Or in the thatch of labour. The ivy green that clothes my v/all Makes them a beavueous bower, Where they may build their home of love, - Secure irom storm and shower Oft have 1 -watch' d a busy pair Theii nimble taskwork plying ; Brave little builders, all the day On tireless wmglets flying. With beak and brsast they shaped the nest, Till, satisfied, "my lady" 0 Nestled within her downy bed — Her bed so soft and shady. And O the joy, when on a day Five yellov/ bills ■ were yawning ! The twittering at the evening's close — • The twittering at the dawning! The fifty thousand huiried flights, In scorn of lurking dangers; From earth and air what dainty fare Was pillaged foi the "strangers" ! When thick and strong iheir feathers grew, With carefiil eye and tender, Mothei her little brood would lure Out on the branches slender. And teach them there to "hop and cling, And brave the wind and weather, Till, bolder grown, with venturous wing, They launch' d upon the ether. Oh, I have watch'd ye, sprightly birds, In sorrows and rejoicing, Till all the changeful scones of life Seern'd imaged in your voicing. Sad, sweet remembrancers 'yt are Of wild Youth's careless rambles — Back o'er Life's sunny lawns ye lead, Back through, its thorny brambles. I love ye, birds ; and one that now Eests 'neath the drooping willow, Oft at the dav/n to hear ye chirp, "Would cpe her ivied window ; - And she would feed ye with a hand To deeds oi mercy given — • The crumbs that from !>er fingers fell Were as rnaima dropt from heaven! Oh, when ye die, up to the sky Your little souls shall flutter, And sing to Him a sweeter note Than now your tongues can utter; For all the lowly were His friends, When sadly here He wandered, And all He loved on earth shall hs In His own land remembered. — H. J. B. October, 1900.