 | John Clare: The Midsummer Cushion |  |
447
THE WRYNECKS NEST
Yon summer bird its oft repeated noteChirps from that dotterel ash & in the hole
The green woodpecker made in years remote
It makes its nest where idle birdboys stroll
In anxious robbing moods—& bye & bye
The wrynecks curious eggs all white as snow
While peeping in the hollow tree they spy
The sitting bird looks up with jetty eye
& waves her head in terror too & fro
Snake-speckled in the varied shades of brown
& then a hissing noise the startled clown
Heereth & bursting terror throbs his breast
Quick from the knotty trunk he sluthers down
Thinking the strange bird guards a serpents nest
| John Clare: The Midsummer Cushion | |