particularly if it is borne in mind that the allusion is to the chattering alarm-call of the oriole and the robin. Exquisite indeed is the description of—
“The bluebird shifting his light load of song
From post to post along the cheerless fence;
while it would puzzle one to find anywhere a more poetical and at the same time realistic portrayal than this,—
“Far distant sounds the hidden chickadee
Close at my side,”—
especially if the reference be to the little black-capped titmouse’s minor whistle, which has a strange, sad remoteness when heard in the sylvan depth, reminding one of the myth of Orpheus mourning for his lost love. No less vivid are the lines,—
“The phœbe scarce whistles
Once an hour to his fellow;”
or these,—