THK WKE\. 20R 



Aiul Olio old sycaiiiorc that dips 

 Into the stream its dnrk-f;rcH'ii tips, 



And di'iiiks all day and iiin'ht : 

 And opposite, the mountain hii^h 

 I'otli intercept the deep hlue sky, 



And shuts it out I'rom sight. 



Last year it was my haunted scat. 

 And every evening did I meet 



A grave and solemn wren : 

 lie sat and never spoke a word, 

 A holy and religious hird 



He seemed unto me then. 



1 thought perchance, that sin and strife 

 Might in a winged creature's life. 



Be somehow strangeh' blent ; 

 So honnit-like ho lived apart. 

 And might be in his little heart 



A woodland penitent ! 



lleceitful thing ! into the brook 

 Hour after hour, a steadfast look 



From off his perch was sent ; 

 And yet, I thought his eyes too bright, 

 Too happy for an anchorite 



On lonely penance bent. 



Ah ! yesj-for long his nest hath been 

 liehiiid yon alder's leafy screen 



By Rothay's chiming waters ; 

 Two rapid years are run, and now 

 This monk hath peopled every bough 



'With little sons and daughters. 



I will not blame thee. Friar ^Vl■ell, 

 Because, among stout-hearted men, 



Some truant monks there be ; 

 And, if you could their names collect, 

 I rather more than half suspect 



That I should not be free. 



Ere while I dreamed of cloistered cells. 

 Of gloomy courts and matin bells. 



And painted windows rare ; 

 But common life's less real gleams 

 Shone warm on my monastic dreams. 



And melted them in air. 



My captive heart is altered now : 

 And, had I but one little bough 

 Of thy green alder tree, 

 . I would not live too long alone. 



Or languish there for want of one 

 To share the nest with me ! 



A correspondent in Loudon's Magazine of Xatnral History (iii. 568,) says: "Many 

 M'rens' nests may be found, wliicli have no feathers, but did you ever find either eggs or 

 young in them'? As far as my observation goes, the fact is, that the nest in which the 

 wren lays its eggs is profusely lined with feathers ; but during the period of incubation , 

 the male, ajTiiarently desirous to be doing sometliing, constructs half-a-dozen nests in the 

 vicLuity of tlic first, none of whicli arc lined; and whilst the first nest is so artfully con- 

 cealed as to be seldom found, the latter are very frequently seen. The wren does not 

 appear to be very careful in the selection of a site for the ' cocJc-nesfs,' as they are called 



