I'VE plucked the berry from the bush, the brown nut from the tree, But heart of happy little bird ne'er broken was by me; I saw them in their curious nests, close couching, slyly peer, With their wild eyes, like glittering beads, to note if harm were near: I passed them by, and blessed them all; I felt that it was good To leave unmoved the creatures small whose home is in the wood. And here, even now, above my head, a lusty rogue doth sing, He pecks his swelling breast and neck, and trims his little wing, He will not fly; he knows full well, while chirping on that spray, I would not harm him for a world, or interrupt his lay; Sing on, sing on, blythe bird! and fill my heart with summer gladness, It has been aching many a day with measures full of sadness! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CARELESS CONTENT by JOHN BYROM THE BLACK RIDERS: 22 by STEPHEN CRANE THE IVY GREEN by CHARLES DICKENS ON HEARING OF INTENTION .. TO PURCHASE THE POET'S FREEDOM by GEORGE MOSES HORTON BURIAL OF THE MINNISINK by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW MY FRIEND by JOHANNA AMBROSIUS THE BOBBIN-WINDER by JOSEPHINE ELIZABETH ARCHER LILIES: 20. 'SOME DAY I WILL TELL YOU' by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) |