HUMMING BIRDS. THE insect birds that suck nectareous juice Through the soft air, distill'd in viewless showers, very I have but seen their feathers,—that is all. Float on the earth, or in the wind dispread Go everywhere to beautify the breeze. Sweet wind, surcharged with treasures such as these, I may not feel :-I never may behold The spark of life, that trimmed in garb so bright That flying quintessence of ruby, gold, Mild emerald, and lucid chrysolite. Yet am I glad that life and joy were there, That the small creature was as blithe as fair. VOL. II. G THE CRICKET. The Naturalist of the Supplement to the British Almanack tells me that Crickets rusticate in Summer, and return to their firesides in Winter. I would I knew this for a fact. WHERE art thou, merry whistler of the hearth? And do not love the bar's ferruginous gloss, When summer nights are blinking-dark and cold, I thought thee sleeping in some cranny snug, Till earlier night bids shake the lazy rug, But thou hast left thy ashy winter mansion To air thy crisp cased wings in wide expansion. |