To the Swallow

Attic maid! with honey fed,
Bear'st thou to thy callow brood
Yonder locust from the mead,
Destin'd their delicious food?

Ye have kindred voices clear,
Ye alike unfold the wing,
Migrate hither, sojourn here,
Both attendant on the spring.

Ah for pity drop the prize;
Let it not, with truth, be said
That a songster gasps and dies,
That a songster may be fed.