BROTHER RONAIN OF THE BIRDS
And each sang blithely at his task,
From nightingale to husky starling,
At the dear house wherein should bask
That pearl of price, his bright-eyed darling.
From nightingale to husky starling,
At the dear house wherein should bask
That pearl of price, his bright-eyed darling.
So all went gaily till each nest
Was built and ready for occupation;
And one Spring morn all sang their best
At morning-song, as was their fashion.
Was built and ready for occupation;
And one Spring morn all sang their best
At morning-song, as was their fashion.
Praising the Lord of sea and sky
Who kept them all the night from peril,
And gave them love and wings to fly,
And worms and grubs when earth was sterile.
Who kept them all the night from peril,
And gave them love and wings to fly,
And worms and grubs when earth was sterile.
When one who was a chief of birds
Said: "Brothers, is it meet we marry
And die like any Pagan hordes,
With never a priest to bless or bury?"
Said: "Brothers, is it meet we marry
And die like any Pagan hordes,
With never a priest to bless or bury?"
"It is not meet!" the birds replied:
"And would some priest of God came fleetly
Over the sunset and the tide,
And here would bide to bless us sweetly!"
"And would some priest of God came fleetly
Over the sunset and the tide,
And here would bide to bless us sweetly!"
Then spake a blackbird from the west:
"In Erin dear that 's over the water,
There is a cleric loves birds best,
Father and mother, son and daughter.
"In Erin dear that 's over the water,
There is a cleric loves birds best,
Father and mother, son and daughter.
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