Poem: “The Song-Sparrow” by Henry Van Dyke

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American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Henry Van Dyke – Poems by Henry Van Dyke
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The Song-Sparrow

There is a bird I know so well, It seems as if he must have sung Beside my crib when I was young;Before I knew the way to spell The name of even the smallest bird, His gentle-joyful song I heard.Now see if you can tell, my dear.What bird it is that, every year,Sings “Sweet—sweet—sweet—very merry cheer.”

He comes in March, when winds are strong, And snow returns to hide the earth; But still he warms his heart with mirth,And waits for May. He lingers long While flowers fade; and every day Repeats his small, contented lay;As if to say, we need not fearThe season’s change, if love is hereWith “Sweet—sweet—sweet—very merry cheer.”

He does not wear a Joseph’s-coat Of many colours, smart and gay; His suit is Quaker brown and gray,With darker patches at his throat. And yet of all the well-dressed throng Not one can sing so brave a song.It makes the pride of looks appearA vain and foolish thing, to hearHis “Sweet—sweet—sweet—very merry cheer.”

A lofty place he does not love, But sits by choice, and well at ease, In hedges, and in little treesThat stretch their slender arms above The meadow-brook; and there he sings Till all the field with pleasure rings;And so he tells in every ear,That lowly homes to heaven are nearIn “Sweet—sweet—sweet—very merry cheer.”

I like the tune, I like the words; They seem so true, so free from art, So friendly, and so full of heart,That if but one of all the birds Could be my comrade everywhere, My little brother of the air,I’d choose the song-sparrow, my dear,Because he’d bless me, every year,With “Sweet—sweet—sweet—very merry cheer.”

1895.

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American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Henry Van Dyke – Poems by Henry Van Dyke

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The Song-Sparrow

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