University of Virginia Library


41

THE APOLOGY

I never shall forget
The day when Daddy frowned,
And flung his book and walking-stick
And cap upon the ground!
He said he had not thought
A child of his could bear
To bully in their nurseries
The children of the air.
He said he almost wished
I'd neither arms nor legs,
Since I could use them wickedly
To steal a thrush's eggs.
And when I sobbed, he said,
“Don't rub those naughty eyes,
But go at once to Mrs Thrush
And then apologise.”
He took me through a gap
Where he could hardly crush,
And made me curtsy twice, and say,
“I beg your pardon, Thrush!”
And then beside the hedge
He taught me how to think
Of birds in blue, of birds in green,
Of birds in white and pink,

42

Till I could see 'twas wrong
To steal the thrush's eggs,
And promised (with a kiss) to have
Good eyes, good arms, good legs.
Suppose an eagle came
And took from Daddy's nest
The face he loves, the hair he loves,
The heart he loves the best!