I TOOK the wren's nest; -- Heaven forgive me! Its merry architects so small Had scarcely finished their wee hall, That, empty still, and neat and fair, Hung idly in the summer air. The mossy walls, the dainty door, Where Love should enter and explore, And Love sit carolling outside, And Love within chirp multiplied; -- I took the wren's nest; -- Heaven forgive me! How many hours of happy pains Through early frosts and April rains, How many songs at eve and morn O'er springing grass and greening corn, Before the pretty house was made! One little minute, only one, And she'll fly back, and find it -- gone! I took the wren's nest: Bird, forgive me! Thou and thy mate, sans let, sans fear, Ye have before you all the year, And every wood holds nooks for you, In which to sing and build and woo; One piteous cry of birdish pain -- And ye'll begin your life again, And quite forget the lost, lost home In many a busy home to come. -- But I? -- Your wee house keep I must Until it crumble into dust. I took the wren's nest: God forgive me! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MARIA WENTWORTH by THOMAS CAREW DIBDIN'S GHOST by EUGENE FIELD THE LAST MAN: LIFE A GLASS WINDOW by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES NOT YE WHO GOAD by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON THE MATCH by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN WATCHING RUNNING WATER by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN HOME, SWEET HOME WITH VARIATIONS: 4. AUSTIN DOBSON by HENRY CUYLER BUNNER |