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TRAGEDY.
“You queer little wonderful owlet! you atom so fluffy and small!
Half a handful of feathers and two great eyes—how came you alive at all?
And why do you sit here blinking as blind as a bat in the light,
With your pale eyes bigger than saucers? Now who ever saw such a sight!
Half a handful of feathers and two great eyes—how came you alive at all?
And why do you sit here blinking as blind as a bat in the light,
With your pale eyes bigger than saucers? Now who ever saw such a sight!
“And what ails chickadee, tell me! what makes him flutter and scream
Round and over you where you sit like a tiny ghost in a dream?
I thought him a sensible fellow, quite steady and calm and wise,
But only see how he hops and flits, and hear how wildly he cries!
Round and over you where you sit like a tiny ghost in a dream?
I thought him a sensible fellow, quite steady and calm and wise,
But only see how he hops and flits, and hear how wildly he cries!
“What is the matter, you owlet? You will not be frightened away!—
Do you mean on that twig of a lilac-bush the whole night long to stay?
Are you bewitching my chickadee-dee? I really believe that you are!
I wish you'd go off, you strange brown bird—oh, ever and ever so far!
Do you mean on that twig of a lilac-bush the whole night long to stay?
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I wish you'd go off, you strange brown bird—oh, ever and ever so far!
“I fear you are weaving and winding some kind of a dreadful charm;
If I leave poor chickadee-dee with you, I'm sure he will come to harm.
But what can I do? We can't stay here forever together, we three—
One anxious child, and an owlet weird, and a frightened chickadee-dee!”
If I leave poor chickadee-dee with you, I'm sure he will come to harm.
But what can I do? We can't stay here forever together, we three—
One anxious child, and an owlet weird, and a frightened chickadee-dee!”
I could not frighten the owl away, and chickadee would not come,
So I just ran off with a heavy heart, and told my mother at home;
But when my brothers and sisters went the curious sight to see,
The owl was gone, and there lay on the ground two feathers of chickadee-dee!
So I just ran off with a heavy heart, and told my mother at home;
But when my brothers and sisters went the curious sight to see,
The owl was gone, and there lay on the ground two feathers of chickadee-dee!
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