University of Virginia Library

The smallest bird that can be found,
If you search all England round,
Everywhere through glade and glen,
Is the golden-crested wren.

Though little, 'tis a brave bird too,
And stays with us the winter through;
Goes picking here, and hopping there,
And never leaves us all the year.
When it freezes, when it snows,
When it thaws, and when it blows,
You still see its little form
Tossed about upon the storm;
Rumpled, crumpled every feather,
And all backward blown together,
While it puffs, and pants, and draws
Together close its little claws
On some branch or mossy rail,
Turning to the wind its tail.
But if there be a hole at all,
It can get in—it is so small—
And shelter from the piercing cold
Its pretty head and crest of gold.
In spring it builds a little house,
Scarce larger than the harvest mouse;
And in it you'll find children five,
The size of bees, and all alive.
And for all these she must find bread,
From morning till 'tis time for bed.
And you will see this little wren,
Works harder far than many men,
Beginning when the dawn doth peep,
Nor ending till it's time to sleep.
Without a minute's pause or rest,
She carries food into her nest
Near forty times in every hour.
Through the sunshine and the shower
Food doth she to her young convey,
For sixteen hours through every day,
Without a moment's time to play.
Ever coming, ever going,
Never idle, always doing
This a bit, and that a taste;
Then she's off again in haste,
Across the field and by the mill,
Bringing something for each bill—
Bill wide-gaping every minute,
And she dropping something in it.
Such a hungry family
As a man doth seldom see;
Helpless, and without a feather,
Opening all their mouths together.
As soon as brought, the food is gone,
All the five a-gape like one.
She herself can't get a bit,
There is such a “twit, twit, twit.”
Though such a family she maintains,
Her weight is scarcely ninety grains:
No smaller bird can there be found,
If you search all England round.

I'm sure that every girl or boy
Will usefully their time employ,
And be ashamed to idle, when
They've read about this little wren.