• I dreaded that first Robin, so,

    But He is mastered, now,

    I'm some accustomed to Him grown,

    He hurts a little, though —


    I thought If I could only live

    Till that first Shout got by —

    Not all Pianos in the Woods

    Had power to mangle me —


    I dared not meet the Daffodils —...

  • The Robin for the Crumb

    Returns no syllable

    But long records the Lady's name

    In Silver Chronicle.

  • The Robin is a Gabriel

    In humble circumstances —

    His Dress denotes him socially,

    Of Transport's Working Classes —

    He has the punctuality

    Of the New England Farmer —

    The same oblique integrity,

    A Vista vastly warmer —


    A small but sturdy Residence

    A self denying...

  • The Robin is the One

    That interrupt the Morn

    With hurried — few — express Reports

    When March is scarcely on —


    The Robin is the One

    That overflow the Noon

    With her cherubic quantity —

    An April but begun —


    The Robin is the One

    That speechless from her Nest...

  • The Robin's my Criterion for Tune —

    Because I grow — where Robins do —

    But, were I Cuckoo born —

    I'd swear by him —

    The ode familiar — rules the Noon —

    The Buttercup's, my Whim for Bloom —

    Because, we're Orchard sprung —

    But, were I Britain born,

    I'd Daisies spurn —

    ...