The Lost Nestlings

"Have you seen my darling nestlings?"
A mother-robin cried,
"I cannot, cannot find them,
Though I've sought them far and wide.

"I left them well this morning,
When I went to seek their food;
But I found, upon returning,
I'd a nest without a brood.

"O have you nought to tell me,
That will ease my aching breast,
About my tender offspring
That I left within the nest?

"I have called them in the bushes,
And the rolling stream beside;
Yet they come not at my bidding;--
I'm afraid they all have died!"

"I can tell you all about them;"
Said a little wanton boy
"For 'twas I that had the pleasure
Your nestlings to destroy.

"But I didn't think their mother
Her little ones would miss;
Or ever come to hail me
With a wailing sound, like this.

"I didn't know your bosom
Was formed to suffer woe,
And to mourn your murdered children,
Or I had not grieved you so.

"I am sorry that I've taken
The lives I can't restore;
And this regret shall teach me
To do the like no more.

"I ever shall remember
The wailing sound I've heard!
No more I'll kill a nestling,
To pain a mother-bird!"