Catbird 



Then to mock the mockery, 

 Thou woulcTst bubble o'er in glee. 

 O thou cynic cat-bird, 

 Mimicking mankind, 

 All our whims and fancies 

 Laughing down the wind. 



Tragic, comic actor thou, 

 For thy stage an alder bough; 

 Now, some borrowed joyous note 

 Pouring from thy feigning throat; 

 Now, from wailing puss in sorrow 

 Her alarm cry thou dost borrow; 

 Till, to us bewildered, seems 

 Each but fancies of our dreams. 



Mimic actor, cat-bird, 

 Thus thy betters do, 



Till 'tween good and evil 

 Nothing seemeth true. 



Cat-bird, but I love thee still, 

 By the brook-side, 'neath the hill, 

 Laughing, mocking in the trees, 

 Feathered Mephistopheles; 

 Playing out thy varied part, 

 Mirroring the human heart; 

 Fretting, scolding, scornful, then 

 Bursting out, in joy, again! 



Good and evil cat-bird 

 On the alder spray, 



Like thy contradictions 



Run our lives away. M. J. SAVAGE. 



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