WARING. H! fair befal thee, gay Fauvette, With trilling song and crown of jet ; Thy pleasant notes with joy I hail, Floating on the vernal gale. Far hast thou flown on downy wing, To be our guest in early Spring: In that first dawning of the year, Pouring a strain as rich and clear As is the Blackbird's mellow lay, In later hours of flowery May. While April skies to grove and field, Alternate shade and sunshine yield, I hear thy wild and joyous strain, And give thee welcome once again. Come, build within my hawthorn bower, And shade thy nurslings with its flower; Or where my wreathed woodbines twine, Make there a home for thee and thine. Now fair befal thee, gay Fauvette, With trilling song and crown of jet ! WILLIAM HOWITT. OME ye, come ye, to the green, green wood, Loudly the Blackbird is singing; The Squirrel is feasting on blossom and bud, Here you may sleep, in the wood so deep, When the moon is se wan and so weary, And sweetly awake, when the sun through the brake BISHOP MANT. AIN, 'mid the hawthorn's budding boughs, Would I the early Blackcap view; Like palmer from some sainted shrine, And hear his desultory bill Such notes of varying cadence trill, May strive to match, but strive in vain. JOHN CLARE. THE PETTYCHAP'S NEST. ELL! in my many walks I've rarely found Its nest-close by the rut-gulled waggon road, And full of eggs scarce bigger e'en than peas! Not bigger than the wren, and seldom seen. When I in pathless woods did idly roam; A spot like this would be her chosen home. |