Invitation to a Robin - A 1793 Poem

By Julia.

Come little flutterer, freely come,

No guile, no fraud inhabits here;

Dost thou not see the scatter'd crumb?

Dispel sweet bird, they causeless fear.

 

The grove is cheerless now and bare

And icy fetters bind the flood;

Come little Robin come and share

My lowly roof and simple food.

 

The winter tempests fiercely blow;

Dark, thick and morbid is the air;

The woods are cover'd deep with snow,

Thou wilt not find a shelter there.

 

Thou could'st not bear the stormy sky'

Stay here sweet warbler, be caress'd,

And let me view they jetty eye

And fondly kiss they ruby breast.

 

No wiry cage shall e'er confine

Thy downy plumes, of stop they song;

Fair liberty shall still be thine

To join at will the feather'd throng.

 

Stay but till wintry blasts are o'er

And spring again adorns the grove;

On freedom's wing thou then shalt soar,

To flow'ry plains, to mirth and love.

November 22, 1793. Massachusetts Mercury 2(42): 4. From the Columbian Gazetteer.