EARTH-nested bird, when you were free To soar and sing exultingly, Your day was a revel in sun and light And your rest was so close to the earth at night, That now in your cage on a fourth-floor sill Your song is as blithe as o'er meadow or hill. Though beneath you surges the crowd in the street, Though your sky is a space of fifty feet You can still have sight of the sun your god, And have still six inches of clover-sod. Your song of rejoicing to be is strong To rise over the noise of the city throng. It falls upon our dusty hearts Like the glittering spray from water-carts, And tells us if we drink but deep Of earth and sun our joy we keep. |