Laborer’s Companions, The

While pleasant care my yielding soil receives
     Other delights the open soul may find;
On the high bough the daring hang0bird weaves
     Her cunning cradle, rocking in the wind;
The arrowy swallow builds, beneath the eves,
     Her clay-walled grotto, with soft feathers lined;
The dull-red robin, under sheltering leaves,
          Her bowl-like nest to sturdy limbs doth bind;
     And many songsters, worth a name in song,
          Plain, homely birds my boy-love sanctified,
     On hedge and tree and grassy boy, prolong
          Sweet loves and cares, in carols sweetly plied;
In such dear strains their simple natures gush
That through my heart at once all tear-blest memories rush.