172 THE HOUSE-SPARROW. 
The owl can’t see in day lght;— 
Oh no! he’s blind and stupid— 
A very fool,—a blockhead plain to see! 
But just step out and look at him at night, 
When all the world is slumbering, save he— 
My word! you’ll find him then as brisk as 
Cupid! 
With open eyes and beak that has the knack 
To snap up mouse or rabbit by the back! 
The owl in hollow oak—the man in den, 
Chamber, or office, dusky and obscure, 
Are creatures very heavy and demure ; 
But soon their turn comes round, and then, 
Oh, what sharp claw and pitiless beak have 
they 
To feather, fleece and worry up their prey! 
“A fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind,” 
So sang the noble bard, who, like the swallow, 
Flew through far climes and soared where few 
can follow. 
"Tis true; and therefore still we find 
That gentle spirits love the robin, 
That comes, as Wordsworth says, ‘“‘ when winds 
are sobbing ;” 
