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.