146 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



TO THE VULTURE. 



By Isaac S. Hess 



Great silent bird— 



E'en the wing-beats from thy strong pinions 



Art seldom heard. 



Gifted with no voice, thou can'st not sing— 



And yet thou art the peer of all— on wing. 



Thy great broad circles as thou sweep'stthe sky « 



Kavish and delight the eye— 



And thou art envied by 



A multitude of creatures, who on earth 



Must needs to walk and crawl. 



Thou'rt Nature's child 



And hath chosen for thy home her forest wild; 



Thy dwelling place— so far from city's mart 



Is in the oak-tree's heart. 



Thou dost accept the architect's unaltered plan; 



True wisdom— for of Nature's hand 



Is all the fashioning. 



Without— may storm and tempest roar— 



Thou art secure. 



We call thee bird- 

 Yet so curious thou art— it seems 

 A metamorphic word. 

 Truly thou art a bird— a beauteous sight 

 When circling o'er in thy majestic fligt; 

 But when we see the dine 

 On loathsome foods 

 And witness thy voracious appetite, 

 Thou seem' St to be— not bird, but ravenous animal. 



Yet cruel thou art not; 

 Thy kindly disposition hath revealed 

 No jot— of enmity or strife. 

 O meek— O mighty bird— type of humility- 

 No insect, e'en— nor worm, nor bird, nor bee 

 Hath lost its life 

 Through thee. 



Content to wait thou art 



O patient bird— 



iTntil thou see'st the last life-breath depart; 



Then faithfully dost thou perform the part 



Assigned to thee. 



Philo, Illinois. 



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