A bird came down the walk He did not know I saw He bit an angle-worm in halves And ate the fellow, raw And then he drank a dew From a convenient gra** And then hopped sidewise to the wall To let a beetle pa** He glanced with rapid eyes That hurried all abroad They looked like frightened beads, I thought
He stirred his velvet head Like one in danger; cautious I offered him a crumb And he unrolled his feathers And rowed him softer home Than oars divide the ocean Too silver for a seam Or bu*terflies, off banks of noon Leap, splashless, as they swim