Songs Without Words 



gest wagon-wheels in need of axle-crease, or the 

 uncanny owls whose hoots make night hideous, or 

 strident hawks, or wild geese honking as they speed 

 high above us in a wedge-shaped flock. To him 



The blue jay mimic, ventriloquist, tease and rascal 



that hath ears to hear even these are musical. No; 

 the real star performers of the world are such as buy 

 no castles in Wales with the proceeds of a single 

 concert tour, but shy, often persecuted creatures, 

 which, like the hermit thrush, lift up their heavenly 

 voices in woodland solitudes with only a devoted lit- 

 tle mate for an audience. Love alone inspires these 

 highest attainments. Neither for applause nor hope 

 of gain does the mocking-bird fill the southern 



*33 



