Would lose their songs in cities dark and crowdy;
Their hearts would break; but we're not like the others,
We cannot sing, our coats are drab and dowdy;
But we can chirp and chirp and chirp again;
The people shan't forget a country lane."
And so they came, and in all city-weathers
They chirped a note of cheer to exiles weary;
And still the sparrows chirp, for their brown feathers
Hide now, as then, brave kindly hearts and cheery,
Of lanes they've never seen nor lived among,