BEHIND THE BARS 
IN CAPTIVITY 
You ask me why 
I long to fly 
Out from your palace to the dreamy woods, 
And the summer solitude, 
Why I pine 
In this cage of mine; 
Why I fret, 
Why I set 
All manner of querulous echoes fluttering forth 
From the cold North 
And wandering southward with beseeching pain 
In every strain. 
Ask me not, 
Task me not 
With such vain questions, but fling wide the door 
And hinder me no more; 
Give back my wings to me, 
And the wild current of my liberty. 
* ** * * * * * 
Oh if you please 
Give me release ! 
Open the gate 
Of this cage of Fate 
And let me mount the South wind and go down 
To Bay St. Louis town, 
Where the brown bees hum 
In amber mists of pollen and perfume; 
And the roses gush a-bloom ! 
* * * * * * * 
Fainter, fainter — so 
My life-stream sinks — runs low. 
Ah! 
Oh! 
- Open the cage and let me go. 
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