06 November 2013

Unfledged - An 1872 Poetic Expression

The egg of a little bird
Fell at my feet to-day,
And the life within it stirred,
Throbbed once and sank away.
 
A song fell out of a heart
Into the hands of men;
They broke it all apart,
And none would know it then.
 
Poor little bird on the grass!
Poor little trembling song!
Beside you both I pass,
And the way, the way is long.
 
Poor little wren so brown
Twittering over her loss!
Poor little heart cast down:
Thine is the greater cross!
December 4, 1872. Orangeburg Times 1(42): 5.