NATURE
XXIII
A BIRD came down the walk:He did not know I saw;He bit an angle-worm in halvesAnd ate the fellow, raw.
And then he drank a dewFrom a convenient grass,And then hopped sidewise to the wallTo let a beetle pass.
He glanced with rapid eyesThat hurried all abroad, —They looked like frightened beads, I thoughtHe stirred his velvet head
Like one in danger; cautious,I offered him a crumb,And he unrolled his feathersAnd rowed him softer home
Than oars divide the ocean,Too silver for a seam,Or butterflies, off banks of noon,Leap, plashless, as they swim.
XXIV
A NARROW fellow in the grassOccasionally rides;You may have met him, — did you not?His notice sudden is.
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