The Bird's Nest: A Fable

Four giddy boys play'd truant once,
Who never blush'd at name of dunce;
But rather choose to live as fools,
Than bear confinement in the schools:
As near a wood they chanc'd to stray,
They found a bird's-nest in their way;
All eager, scrambling for the nest;
But one much taller than the rest,
Secur'd the prize; each claim'd a share,
The tallest did not hold it fair,
And with an aggravating frown,
He vow'd he'd keep it all his own;
The rest with rage were fit to burst,
When each declar'd he saw it first;
And rather than give up their right,
They 'gan to quarrel, next to fight;
The nest was on a hay-cock put,
'Till they decided the dispute.
A clown just by, emerging lay,
To see 'em once begin the fray,
He knew he should (for he was wise)
While they were fighting, steal the prize;
No sooner had the fray began,
But with the nest, away he ran;
The scuffle over, to his cost,
The hero found his prize was lost.
Each 'gan to simper at his brother,
To find, that after all their pother,
The potent point so soon decided,
And ev'ry share so well divided.