 | Poems and Plays |  |
132
THE ROOKERY.
Oh thou who dwell'st upon the bough,
Whose tree now waves its verdant brow,
And bending shades the murm'ring brook,
List to my woes, dear sister Rook!
And when thou'st heard my mournful lay
Extend thy wing, and haste away;
Lest pinion-maim'd by fiery shot,
Thou shou'dst like me bewail thy lot;
Lest in thy Rookery be renew'd
The tragic scene which here I view'd.
Whose tree now waves its verdant brow,
And bending shades the murm'ring brook,
List to my woes, dear sister Rook!
And when thou'st heard my mournful lay
Extend thy wing, and haste away;
Lest pinion-maim'd by fiery shot,
Thou shou'dst like me bewail thy lot;
Lest in thy Rookery be renew'd
The tragic scene which here I view'd.
The day declin'd, the evening breeze
Gently rock'd the silent trees,
While spreading o'er my peopled nest
I hush'd my callow young to rest;
When suddenly an hostile sound,
Explosion dire! was heard around;
And, level'd by the hand of fate,
The flying deaths transfix'd my mate;
I saw him fall from spray to spray,
Till on the distant ground he lay,
With tortur'd wing he beat the plain,
And never call'd to me again.
Gently rock'd the silent trees,
133
I hush'd my callow young to rest;
When suddenly an hostile sound,
Explosion dire! was heard around;
And, level'd by the hand of fate,
The flying deaths transfix'd my mate;
I saw him fall from spray to spray,
Till on the distant ground he lay,
With tortur'd wing he beat the plain,
And never call'd to me again.
Many a neighbour, many a friend,
Deform'd with wounds, invok'd their end;
Loud uttering omen'd sounds of woe
'Gainst man, our unrelenting foe.
These eyes beheld my little brood
Fluttering in their guiltless blood,
While trembling on the shatter'd tree
At length the gun invaded me;
But wayward fate, severely kind,
Refus'd the death I wish'd to find,
Oh! farewell pleasure, peace farewell!
And with the gory Raven dwell.
Was it for this I shunn'd retreat,
And fix'd near man my social seat?
For this destroy'd the insect train,
That eat unseen the infant grain?
For this I cheer'd (with many a note
Resounding from my artless throat)
Yon dowager of reverend mien?
Who dignifies the rural scene!
Deform'd with wounds, invok'd their end;
Loud uttering omen'd sounds of woe
'Gainst man, our unrelenting foe.
These eyes beheld my little brood
Fluttering in their guiltless blood,
While trembling on the shatter'd tree
At length the gun invaded me;
134
Refus'd the death I wish'd to find,
Oh! farewell pleasure, peace farewell!
And with the gory Raven dwell.
Was it for this I shunn'd retreat,
And fix'd near man my social seat?
For this destroy'd the insect train,
That eat unseen the infant grain?
For this I cheer'd (with many a note
Resounding from my artless throat)
Yon dowager of reverend mien?
Who dignifies the rural scene!
| Poems and Plays | |