 | A Flight of Fancies |  |
6
AN EXPLANATION
“How intensely interesting!”Said the Cuckoo. “She is nesting,
And a neater little pipit never flew!
I am tempted to reward her
By supplying such a boarder
As so capable a wife deserves to view.
It may seem a kind of madness
To be anxious for her gladness
At the heavy cost of giving up my own;
But a Cuckoo's not a narrow,
Mean, and self-assertive sparrow,
And her heart is more like putty than like stone.
There is something so appealing
In a pipit, that a feeling,
As of charity neglected day by day,
Would be sure to fret and blame me
Morning, noon, and night, and shame me
If I kept the egg I ought to give away.
Other birds enjoy the blisses
Of exchanging horny kisses
With a family of children in a nest;
They can love them, cuddle, feed them,
Form their manners wisely, read them
7
But a Cuckoo, out of tender
Inclination to surrender
What was granted her by Love in days of old,
Has become a creature blighted,
Through her generous heart, and slighted,
Though deserving of a statue made in gold.
When I think of all the twaddle
Active in a human noddle,
And the rubbish I have often overheard,
Need I wonder if those crazy
Men with cameras call me lazy
And a vicious sort of profiteering bird?
Noisy, in and out of season,
They extol their gift of reason,
Yet to none of them the lovely truth is known
That a Cuckoo gives her treasure
To increase a small bird's pleasure,
Since her heart is more like putty than like stone.”
| A Flight of Fancies | |