Poems (Griffin)/The Caged Bird

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THE CAGED BIRD.
LISTEN! listen! listen! From the woodlands near me,Where the bright leaves glisten, Sweet notes come to cheer me.
Brother warblers singing In the scented bowers,Where are dew-drops clinging Sweetly to the flowers.
From their soft nests, lightly, Friendly birds have risen;And on pinions, brightly, Wheel above my prison.
See! one has alighted! Oh, how sweetly singingTo the soft, green spriglet, In the free winds swinging!
Singing songs I loved so, When, amid my kindred, ​I on light wings roved through Wood and grove unhindered.
How my bird-heart flutters! Oh, how wildly beating'Gainst the gilded shutters, For one friendly greeting.
Grant me but one blessing,— I will ask no other;I would send a message To my sweet bird-mother.
Tell her that I never, Never more shall meet her!Nor at morning's early dawn Rise with songs to greet her.
And, for her sweet comfort, Tell her that a maiden,Gentle as the morning breeze With dewy fragrance laden,
Is the tender keeper Of my captive hours,—In whose love I half forget My native woodland bowers.
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