THE RINGED DOTTEREL.
HEED not the lures of copse or lea, Or bushy dell,
But skirt the rising tide with me, Ringed Dotterel.
Black veil drawn close athwart the eye, Black collarette, And white cravat, beseem the spry And trim coquette.
By sandy level shell-bestrewed, By crumbling caves, Flirt with the saucy winds, elude The gallant waves.
Outstrip the breeze and skim the ground With flying run,
And take each breaker at a bound,—
Incarnate fun !
From lowly nest beguile away The robber hand, Well-skilled to try your artful play Along the strand: To pipe the wistful anxious wail, And gaze askance, Then shyly trusting seem to hail A near advance.
Guiltless impostor, do not quake For chicks or eggs; Dear heart, I'd leave them for the sake Of those pink legs : And for the model mate and wife, Whose highest good Is faithful love, and more than life To love their brood.
Had I a gun, your pretty charm Would make me miss you ; Nay, why that scuttle of alarm ?
I'd like to kiss you.
Go where the fattening shrimp has dined, The larva squirms, And juicy mites are safe to find, And ripest worms.
The inner law let each fulfil Without a care; E. S.
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