Select Poetry.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 13, Issue 664, 15 March 1869, Page 4

Select Poetry.

A FABLE FOR YOUTH. 0< BIRDJE, barely fledged and young, M Peeped from his fostering home, And through the ivy caught a glimpse Qt flelds he fain would roam. f What! is the world so large a place, So fair, and O, so green! Why, 'tis the very loveliest ttying That ever I have seen." He chirp'd and chirp'd. with wistful note, " Ah mother, could 1 fly." The mother droop'd her fostering wing, And answered sadly " Try." He spread his eager plumes for flight, Then fluttered from the nest; f How clear the air, how blue the sky! O, surely this is best! Now am T free, and free to range At fancy and at will; The heather'cl moor, the gra3S-greon glade, The sunny bower'd bill." But presently his pinions fail'd, ' He thought awhile to rest; He fluttered, and he beat the air, But could not gain the nest. Too late he mouru'd his rash attempt, No nest was there around; Wildly he spent his feeble power, Then lifeless fell to ground. So 'tis when youth would madly stand Alone before its time; The blossom prematurely blown Must wither ere its prime!