John Bidlake
To the Red-Breast
「1794」Rev. John Bidlake, To the Red-Breast in Poetical Works「Google Books」(London, 1804).
SWEET bird! companion of mankind, I hail thee with a grateful mind,
As to my cot thou drawest near: O enter then! devoid of fear,
And peck the crumbs of scatter’d breadWhich wanton waste has idly shed; For He, who makes thee e’er his care, Bids man for deeds of mercy spare;
Bids lux’ry stay its mad career,And learn the aching heart to cheer;For e’en the refuse of its store
May bless the hungry and the poor;While God has nothing made in vain, Nor wastes on earth a single grain Which does not feed,—so great his care!— Some commoner of earth or air.
Then peck at ease, and take thy fill, For Winter frowns, and all is chill; Fast falls the snow, and cold the skies, And all below in ruin lies.… O may thy warbled pray’r ascend o Him who taught me to defend
From harm, not only thee, but all Who might on my protection call! For in his works I learnt to spare,
Where love and mercy blended are: Then may our Maker shelter me, As I, poor bird, would shelter thee!
