STKVCTURE Ol' JilUDS. 



aiifl what other covering could equal its beautiful plumage? Scales arc manifestly 



adaptwl to a very different race ; little less appropriate woidd be a covering of hair ; but 



eathers, fidl and deep as they are, iucreaso the supeilicies of the body, uud are also of 



marvellous lightness. 



Birds, joyous biids of the wnndoiiiin; wing! 

 Whence is it yc come with the flowers of Spring ? 

 " AVc come fiom the shore of the green ohl Xile, 

 From the hind where the roses of Sharon smile, 

 From the pahiis that wave through the Indian sky ; 

 From the myrrli-trccs of glowing Araby. 



" AVc have swept o'er the cities, in song renown'd, — 



Silent they lie, with the deserts round ! 



AVc have crossed proud rivers, whose tide hath roll'd 



All dark with the warrior blood of old ; 



And each worn wing hath regained its home, 



Under the peasant's roof-tree, or monarch's dome." 



And what have yo found in the monarch's dome. 

 Since last ye traversed the blue sea's foam ? 

 " AVe have found a change, we have found a iiall, 

 And a gloom o'ershadov.'iiig the banquet's hall, 

 And a mark on the floor, as of life-di'ops spilt, — 

 Nought looks the same, save the nest we built !" 



Sad is yom- tale of the beautiful earth, 

 Bii-ds that o'ersweep it in power and mii'th ! 

 Yet, through the wastes of the trackless air, 

 Ye have a guide, and shall we despair ? 

 Yc over desert and deep have pass'd — 

 So shall ive reach oiu- bright homo at last .' 



Mrs. Hemans. 



