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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SPARROW, by KATHARINE TYNAN Poet's Biography
First Line: When august hangs the bough with plums
Last Line: For men and birds of wit and taste.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hinkson, Katharine Tynan
Subject(s): August; Cities; Country Life; Sparrows; Urban Life
First Line: When august hangs the bough with plums
Last Line: For men and birds of wit and taste.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hinkson, Katharine Tynan
Subject(s): August; Cities; Country Life; Sparrows; Urban Life
WHEN August hangs the bough with plums,
The dusty city sparrow comes
For sojourn in the country sweet,
To taste the barley and the wheat.
Like any country bird he walks
Down the gold aisles of bearded stalks,
Pecks juicy grains in ear, and takes
His pleasure in the barley-brakes.
He bathes in dew at morn, and preens
His sooty coat to mock the sheens
Of swallow, fieldfare, finch and wren,
That hate the dusty ways of men.
His cynic wit, his mocking eye,
The innocent country ways decry;
Though dews may wash his feathers clean
He keeps the urchin's heart within.
The gossip his of chimney-stacks;
Wherefore the pleasant country lacks
Something, his ear the silence tires
Who nests amid the city spires.
To the perpetual green and gold
In dusk and dew his eyes are cold;
For his untravelled heart yet turns
Home where the smoky city burns.
A little while for health he stays
Where Flora paints the country ways,
But holds that still the town is best
For men and birds of wit and taste.
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