90 TO MY BIRDIE. Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair; TO MY BIRDIE. - Mrs. Southey. HERE'S only you an' me, Birdie! here's only you an' me! An' there you sit, you humdrum fowl! Sae mute an' mopish as an owl, Sour companie! Sing me a little song, Birdie! lift up a little lay! To stun them with your minstrelsie, The lee lang day; An' now we're only twa, Birdie! an' now we 're only twa; 'T were sure but kind and cozie, Birdie ! Dull care awa'. Ye ken when folks are paired, Birdie! ye ken when folks are paired, Life's fair, an' foul, and freakish weather, An' light an' lumbring loads, thegither Maun a' be shared; An' shared wi' looin' hearts, Birdie! wi' looin hearts and free, Fu' fashious loads may weel be borne ; An' roughest roads to velvet turn, Trod cheerfully. We've all our cares and crosses, Birdie! we've a' our cares an' crosses; But then to sulk an' sit so glum, Hout! tout! what guid o' that can come To mend one's losses? Ye're clipt in wiry fence, Birdie! ye 're clipt in wiry fence, An' aiblins I, gin I mote gang Upo' a wish, wad be or lang Wi' friends far hence; But what's a wish, ye ken, Birdie! but what's a wish, ye ken, Nae cantrip nag, like hers of Fife, Who darnit wi' the auld weird wife, Flood, fell, an' fen. ye 're "T is true ye 're furnished fair, Birdie! 't is true furnished fair, Wi' a braw pair of bonnie wings Wad lift ye whar yon lav'rock sings High up i' th' air; But then that wire 's sae strang, Birdie! but then that wire 's sae strang! An' I myself, sae seemin' free, Whar fain I'd gang. 92 THE GRASSHOPPER. An' sae we'd baith our wills, Birdie! we'd each our wilfu' way; Whar lav'rocks hover, falcons fly; An' snares an' pitfa's often lie Whar wishes stray. An' ae thing weel I wot, Birdie! an' ae thing weel I wot, There's ane abune the highest sphere Wha cares for a' his creatures here, Marks every lot; Wha guards the crowned king, Birdie! wha guards the crownéd king, An' taketh heed for sic as me, Sae little worth, an' e'en for thee, Puir witless thing! Sae now, let's baith cheer up, Birdie! an' sin' we 're only twa Aff han'- let's ilk ane do our best, To ding that crabbit, cankered pest, Dull care awa'! HAPPY insect! what can be "T is filled wherever thou dost tread, Thee country hinds with gladness hear, Thee Phoebus loves, and does inspire; Phoebus is himself thy sire. To thee, of all things upon earth, Life is no longer than thy mirth. Happy insect! happy thou Dost neither age nor winter know; But, when thou 'st drunk, and danced, and sung Thy fill, the flowery leaves among, Sated with thy summer feast, Thou retir'st to endless rest. THE CASTLE BY THE SEA. FROM THE GERMAN OF UHLAND. FELLOW. TRANSLATED BY LONG "HAST thou seen that lordly castle, That castle by the sea? Golden and red above it The clouds float gorgeously. 94 THE CASTLE BY THE SEA. "And fain it would stoop downward In the evening's crimson glow." "Well have I seen that castle, "The winds and the waves of ocean, Didst thou hear, from those lofty chambers, "The winds and the waves of ocean, They rested quietly; But I heard on the gale a sound of wail, "And sawest thou on the turrets And the wave of their crimson mantles? "Led they not forth, in rapture, "Well saw I the ancient parents, They were moving slow, in weeds of woe ; |