Spenser, Sonnets (1591).
Robin. The red of a robin’s breast is produced by the blood of Jesus. While the “Man of Sorrows” was on His way to Calvary, a robin plucked a thorn from His temples, and a drop of blood, falling on the bird, turned its bosom red.
Another legend is that the robin used to carry dew to refresh sinners parched in hell, and the scorching heat of the flames turned its feathers red.
He brings cool dew in his little bill,
And lets it fall on the souls of sin;
You can see the mark on his red breast still,
Of fires that scorch as he drops it in.
J. G. Whittier, The Robin.
If a robin finds a dead body unburied, it will cover the face at least, if not the whole body.--Grey, On Shakespeare, ii. 226.
The robins so red, now these babies are dead,