 | Wood-notes and Church-bells |  |
95
A PLEA FOR CAGED BIRDS.
Oh, set them free!
Kind-hearted man have pity
On the poor Cage-birds, snatched from hedge, or tree,
Or open field, to pine in smoky city.
Kind-hearted man have pity
On the poor Cage-birds, snatched from hedge, or tree,
Or open field, to pine in smoky city.
Set the birds free;
Their joy is in the meadows,
At will to wander with the murmuring bee,
Or sit and sing amid the happy shadows.
Their joy is in the meadows,
At will to wander with the murmuring bee,
Or sit and sing amid the happy shadows.
What right hast thou
To lure the golden finches,
Or the red linnets, from the wildwood bough,
And cage them within bars of six square inches?
To lure the golden finches,
Or the red linnets, from the wildwood bough,
And cage them within bars of six square inches?
96
Who gives thee leave
To steal the merry thrushes
From breezy fir-tree tops, that they may grieve
In silence, where the loud street-traffic rushes?
To steal the merry thrushes
From breezy fir-tree tops, that they may grieve
In silence, where the loud street-traffic rushes?
Whence comes thy right
To cramp the free-born pinion
Of soaring larks that sing unseen in light,
Then earthwards drop—to feel man's harsh dominion?
To cramp the free-born pinion
Of soaring larks that sing unseen in light,
Then earthwards drop—to feel man's harsh dominion?
Set the birds free,
To smooth the ruffled feather,
To flit at liberty o'er wood and lea,
Bathe in blue skies and drink the sunny weather.
To smooth the ruffled feather,
To flit at liberty o'er wood and lea,
Bathe in blue skies and drink the sunny weather.
Oh, set them free!
See them once more upspringing
Into the open with a cry of glee—
With ecstasy their Maker's praises singing!
See them once more upspringing
Into the open with a cry of glee—
With ecstasy their Maker's praises singing!
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