Poems (Hoffman)/To the Wild Canaries

by Martha Lavinia Hoffman

TO THE WILD CANARIES

I have watched you so oft when a child, blithe canaries,
Beside the cool stream where you warbled and drank;
When you helped me to gather the luscious blackberries
That trailed their long vines o'er the moss-covered bank.

'Neath the tall alder's shade with their green and gold tassels
Dropping on the swift current and gliding away,
I have watched you and built such aerial castles
They stayed not to fade with the close of the day.

You swing to and fro on the rough Spanish thistle
And gather its seed for your wee baby-broods,
You mingle your songs with the mocking bird's whistle
And on each quiet pause your blithe twitter intrudes.

You bathe where the ripples play over the pebbles
And dash the light spray o'er your beautiful wings,
While the brook's cheerful music in clear little trebles
Joins the oriole's song where he carols and swings.

You belong to the woodland choir, and your sweet voices
Add much to the charm of their anthems of praise;
In Spring when all nature awaking rejoices
You chant with the rest Summer's sweet prophecies.

You are friends to the lover of nature, your beauty,
The gold of your breasts and the grace of your forms
Are beautiful gems, linked with every-day duty
And sunbeams to cheer after bleak cloudy storms.

I have climbed to the nests of your marvelous weaving
And looked at the dainty eggs guarded within,
I have watched your young birdlings their cozy homes leaving
New homes in the world for themselves to begin.

I have wondered if on your own native sea-islands
You are happier, lovelier, brighter than here;
You are charming enough in our own mossy woodland
And the charms of your music cannot be more dear.

When away from my home and the haunts of my childhood,
Sweet memory paints you in lines of delight,
So real, I seem in my own leafy wild-wood
Where the song of the bird and the brooklet unite.