The White-Breasted Nuthatch 



By Harry Edward MilKr 



Call ami note like scjiiic one lau^^liing : '. 



Like some jester with his chaffing ] 



Echoes with court jester's style ; 



I'Vom orchard tree or woodland aisle; 



Or with hilarious vein doth greet 



The stroller through the village street. 



To hring again as hring they must 



The court jester whose bones are dust ; 



The castle and all the castle throng * 



That to the clouded past l)elong. i 



The door is opened and lifted the latch 



By this old jester, the gray nuthatch. 



Who does on tree-trunk bob and tilt, ; 



Asking the dreamer if he wilt 



To walk through Fancy's guarded door 



To those lost ages gone before ; 



To live again in stout castle keep 



With people who long ago went to sleep ; 



To hear again in the master's court j 



The song of jester and his quick retort ; 



The jester whose sole place on earth 



Was to drive out old care with mirth : 



So once his mirthful journey ran — 



Now- there be none of his old clan { 



Of merrymakers in thick wood or grove, \ 



.Vor in the field where we may rove : '' 



Lest some such spirit did incarnate . 



To make the nuthatch laughter's mate. 



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