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Charles Lamb - The Sparrow And The Hen
Work rating: Low

A sparrow, when sparrows like parrots could speak,
  Addressed an old hen who could talk like a jay:
Said he, "It`s unjust that we sparrows must seek
  Our food, when your family`s fed every day.


"Were you like the peacock, that elegant bird,
  The sight of whose plumage her master may please,
I then should not wonder that you are preferred
  To the yard, where in affluence you live at your ease.


"I affect no great style, am not costly in feathers,
  A good honest brown I find most to my liking,
It always looks neat, and is fit for all weathers,
  But I think your grey mixture is not very striking.


"We know that the bird from the isles of Canary
  Is fed, foreign airs to sing in a fine cage;
But your note from a cackle so seldom does vary,
  The fancy of man it cannot much engage.


"My chirp to a song sure approaches much nearer,
  Nay the nightingale tells me I sing not amiss;
If voice were in question I ought to be dearer;
  But the owl he assures me there`s nothing in this.


"Nor is it your proneness to domestication,
  For he dwells in man`s barn, and I build in man`s thatch,
As we say to each other—but, to our vexation,
  O`er your safety alone man keeps diligent watch."


"Have you e`er learned to read?" said the hen to the sparrow,
  "No, madam," he answered, "I can`t say I have."
"Then that is the reason your sight is so narrow,"
  The old hen replied, with a look very grave.


"Mrs. Glasse in a Treatise—I wish you could read—
  Our importance has shown, and has proved to us why
Man shields us and feeds us: of us he has need
  Even before we are born, even after we die."
Source
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