The Dead Sparrow. 19 THE DEAD SPARROW. TELL me not of joy! there's none He would chirp and play with me; He would catch a crumb, and then, Would moisture sip; He would from my trencher feed; Then would hop, and then would run, And cry philip when he'd done! O! whose heart can choose but bleed? O! how eager would he fight, And ne'er hurt though he did bite! No morn did pass, But on my glass He would sit, and mark and do His feathers o'er, now let 'em fall; Now my faithful bird is gone; O let mournful turtles join With loving red-breasts, and combine THE SWALLOW. SWALLOW! that on rapid wing Sweep'st along in sportive ring, Now here, now there, now low, now high, Chasing keen the painted fly ;— Could I skim away with thee Over land and over sea, What streams would flow, what cities rise, The Swallow. Sport among the feather'd choir 'Mid myrtle groves and orange trees; Entering then the wild domain 21 Where wolves prowl round the flocks of Spain, And mules plod surely on and slow. Far to south our course away, ORIGINAL. 22 Ode on Solitude. ODE ON SOLITUDE. HAPPY the man whose wish and care A few paternal acres bound, Content to breathe his native air In his own ground! Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread, Blest, who can unconcern'dly find Sound sleep by night; study and ease Thus let me live, unseen unknown, Steal from the world, and not a stone РОРЕ. Spring.-The Mouse's Petition. 23 SPRING: Now the glad earth her frozen zone unbinds, Its name and hue the scentless plant retains, To these succeed the violet's glossy blue, MRS. BARBAULD. THE MOUSE'S PETITION. Found in the trap, where he had been confined all night. O HEAR a pensive prisoner's prayer, For liberty that sighs; And never let thine heart be shut Against the wretch's cries! |