When by kind duty fix'd. Among the roots Of hazel, pendant o'er the plaintive stream, They frame the first foundation of their domes; Dry sprigs of trees, in artful fabric laid, And bound with clay together. Now 'tis nought But restless hurry thro' the busy air,
Beat by unnumber'd wings. The swallow sweeps The slimy pool, to build his hanging house Intent. And often from the careless back Of herds and flocks a thousand tugging bills Pluck hair and wool; and oft, when unobserv'd, Steal from the barn a straw: till soft and warm, Clean, and complete, their habitation grows.
As thus the patient dam assiduous sits, Not to be tempted from her tender task, Or by sharp hunger, or by smooth delight, Thơ' the whole loosened Spring around her blows, Her sympathizing lover takes his stand High on th' opponent bank, and ceaseless sings The tedious time away; or else supplies Her place a moment, while she sudden flits To pick the scanty meal. Th' appointed time With pious toil fulfill'd, the callow young, Warm'd and expanded into perfect life,
Their brittle bondage break, and come to light, A helpless family demanding food
With constant clamour. O what passions then, What melting sentiments of kindly care, On the new parents seize! Away they fly Affectionate, and undesiring bear The most delicious morsel to their young; Which equally distributed, again
The search begins. Even so a gentle pair, By fortune sunk, but form'd of generous mold, And charm'd with cares beyond the vulgar breast In some lone cott amid the distant woods, Sustain'd alone by providential Heaven, Ost, as they veeping eye their infant train, Check their own appetites, and give them all. Nor toil alone they scorn: exalting love, By the great Father of the Spring inspir'd, Gives instant courage to the fearful race, And to the simple art. With stealthy wing, Should some rude foot their woody haunts molest, Amid a neighbouring bush they silent drop, And whirring thence, as if alarm'd, deceive Th' unfeeling school-boy. Hence, around the head' Of wandering swain, the white-wing'd plover wheels
Her sounding flight, and then directly on
In long excursion skims the level lawn,
To tempt him from her nest. The wild duck, hence,
O'er the rough moss; and o'er the trackless waste The heath-hen flutters, pious fraud! to lead The hot pursuing spaniel far astray.
Be not the Muse asham'd, here to bemoan Her brothers of the grove, by tyrant Man Inhuman caught, and in the narrow cage From liberty confin'd, and boundless air. Dull are the pretty slaves, their plumage dull, Ragged, and all its brightening lustre lost; Nor is that sprightly wildness in their notes, Which, clear and vigorous, warbles from the beech. O then ye friends of love and love-taught song, Spare the soft tribes, this barbarous art forbear; If on your bosom innocence can win, Music engage, or piety persuade.
But let not chief the nightingale lament Her ruin'd care, too delicately fram'd To brook the harsh confinement of the cage. Ost when, returning with her loaded bill, Th' astonish'd mother finds a vacant nest, By the hard hand of unrelenting clowns
Robb'd, to the ground the vain provision falls; Her pinions ruffle, and low-drooping scarce Can bear the mourner to the poplar shade; Where, all abandon'd to despair, she sings Her sorrows thro' the night; and, en the bough, Sole-sitting, still at every dying fall Takes up again her lamentable strain Of winding woe; till, wide around, the woods Sigh to her song, and with her wail resound.
But now the feather'd youth their former bounds, Ardent, disdain; and, weighing oft their wings, Demand the free possession of the sky: This one glad office more, and then dissolves Parental love at once, now needless grown. Unlavish Wisdom never works in vain. 'Tis on some evening, sunny, grateful, mild, When nought but balm is breathing thro' the woods, With yellow lustre bright, that the new tribes Visit the spacious heavens, and look abroad On Nature's common, far as they can see, Or wing, their range and pasture. O'er the boughs Dancing about, still at the giddy verge Their resolution fails; their pinions still, In loose libration stretch'd, to trust the void
Trembling refuse: till down before them fly The parent-guides, and chide, exhort, command,
Or push them off. The surging air receives Its plumy burden; and their self-taught wings Winnow the waving element. On ground Alighted, bolder up again they lead,
Farther and farther on, the lengthening flight; Till vanish'd every fear, and every power Rouz'd into life and action, light in air Th' acquitted parents see their soaring race And once rejoicing never know them more. High from the summit of a craggy cliff, Hung o'er the deep, such as amazing frowns On utmost Kilda's (1) shore, whose lonely race Resign the setting sun to Indian worlds, The royal eagle, draws his vigorous young, Strong-pounc'd, and ardent with paternal fire. Now fit to raise a kingdom of their own, He drives them from his fort, the towering seat, For ages, of his empire; which, in peace, Unstain'd he holds, while many a league to sea He wings his course, and preys in distant isles.
(1) The farthest of the western islands of Scotland.
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