THE BOY
AND THE ROBIN.
I.
So now, pretty robin, you’ve come
to my door;
I wonder you never have ventured before:
’Tis likely you thought I would do you some
harm;
But pray, sir, what cause have you seen for alarm?
II.
You seem to be timid—I’d
like to know why—
Did I ever hurt you? What makes you
so shy?
You shrewd little rogue, I’ve a
mind, ere you go,
To tell you a thing it concerns you to
know.
III
You think I have never discovered your
nest;
’Tis hid pretty snugly, it must
be confessed.
Ha! ha! how the boughs are entwined all
around!
No wonder you thought it would never be
found.
IV.
You’re as cunning a robin as ever
I knew; And yet, ha! ha! ha! I’m as cunning
as you! I know all about your nice home on
the tree—’Twas nonsense to try
to conceal it from me.
V.
I know—for but yesterday I
was your guest—
How many young robins there are in your
nest;
And pardon me, sir, if I venture to say,
They’ve had not a morsel of dinner
to-day.
VI.
But you look very sad, pretty robin, I
see,
As you glance o’er the meadow, to
yonder green tree;
I fear I have thoughtlessly given you
pain,
And I will not prattle so lightly again.
VII.
Go home, where your mate and your little
ones dwell;
Though I know where they are, yet I never
will tell;
Nobody shall injure that leaf-covered
nest,
For sacred to me is the place of your
rest.
VIII.
Adieu! for you want to be flying away,
And it would be cruel to ask you to stay;
But come in the morning, come early, and sing,
For dearly I love you, sweet warbler of spring.
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