 | The Shepherd's Garden |  |
42
THE LITTLE BIRD'S SONG.
My father was a redbreast, my mother was an owl;And I will sing a pretty song if you will fill the bowl.
Gaily Johnny goldfinch, bobbing on a thistle,
Hops and dances blithely to the blackbird's merry whistle:
Fink fink, the chaffinch says; chu chu, the nightingale;
And many a merry bird beside doth tell his happy tale;
Tiny Tommy titmouse, chittafa, says he,
The careless cuckoo shouting as he slides from tree to tree;
Dapper little whinchat flitting o'er the hay,
Utick-tick-tick, he doth cry all a summer's day:
Hark, the yellow-hammer his mournful note prolong,
Teru teru teroo, he wails with sorrow in his song:
Caw, cries the robber rook as he flaps across the corn:
Crake crake, the landrail shrieks in the grass at night and morn:
Jove's bird, the little wren, doth tune his tender throat:
Cheep cheep, the silly sparrow hath but a single note.
So here is health and wealth to all, for now I go away;
If you will hear my song again I'll come another day.
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