LOOK at this ball of intractable fluff, Panting and staring with piteous eyes! What a rebellion of heart! what a ruff Tickles my hand as the missel-thrush tries, Pecking my hand with her termagant bill, How to escape (and I love her, the sweet!) Back where the clustering oaks on the hill Climb to the blue with their branches, and meet! Nay, polished beak, you are pecking a friend! Bird of the grassland, you bleed at the wing! Stay with me, love; in captivity mend Wrong that was wrought by the boy and his sling. Would that a Priest of the Birds might arise, Wonderful words on his lips to persuade Reasoning creatures to leave to the skies Song at its purest, a-throb in the glade! Bow, woodland heart, to the yoke for a while! Soon shall the lyrics of wind in the trees Stir you to pipe in the green forest-aisle— God send me there with the grass to my knees! Trusting to-day an affectionate breast Full of its duty to welcome and share, Build from the twigs of my friendship a nest Not to be plundered, Delight of the air! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE JOBHOLDER by DAVID IGNATOW FAUST: SCENE 1. PROLOGUE IN HEAVEN by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE MOTHER HEART by NELLIE COOLEY ALDER TO ONE WHO ASKED by KENNETH SLADE ALLING MY DEAREST WIFE by WILLIAM BARNES SONNET TO NICHOLAS BLACKLEECH OF GRAYES INNE by RICHARD BARNFIELD |