Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE TELL-TALE, by ISABEL ECCLESTONE MACKAY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE TELL-TALE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: We used to like the little birds
Last Line: Would go and tell on bill and me!
Subject(s): Children; Story-telling; Childhood


WE USED to like the little birds,
We thought them good and kind;
We never took a single egg
('Less we left lots behind),
And every morning me and Bill
Put crumbs upon the window-sill!

There was a Robin used to hop
Right close beside our door,
He'd cock his saucy head and say:
"Please, boy, I want some more,"
And I would say: "Here's more for you
And some for Mrs. Robin, too."

But one day Bill and me went down
To paddle in the stream
And fell splash in! We'd sense enough
To know we mustn't scream.
And when we'd dried our clothes quite well
You couldn't hardly, poss'bly tell!

But when we both got home that night
Our mother knew it all.
She knew how we'd been soakin' wet,
And how we came to fall—
And when she tucked us up in bed,
"A little birdie told!" she said.

Bill thinks it was the Robin, and
He feels just mighty sore;
He says: "That bird can get his crumbs
At some one else's door!"
I—just can't hardly b'lieve that he
Would go and tell on Bill and me!





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