The Witch-Maid, and Other Verses/The Heart of a Bird

by Dorothea Mackellar

TWO JAPANESE SONGS

I

THE HEART OF A BIRD

What does the bird-seller know of the heart of a bird?

There was a bird in a cage of gold, a small red bird in a cage of gold;
The sun shone through the bars of the cage, out of the wide heaven;
The depths of the sky were soft and blue, greatly to be longed for.
The bird sang for desire of the sky, and her feathers shone redder for sorrow;
And many passed in the street below, and they said one to another:
"Ah, that we had hearts as light as a bird's!"
 
But what does the passer-by know of the heart of a bird?

What does the bird-seller know of the heart of a bird?
 
"I have given grain for you to eat and water that you may bathe."
Shall not this bird be content? is there need to clip her wings?
No, for her cage is very strong, the golden bars are set close;
Yet the real bird has flown away, very far away over the rice-fields;
There is only the shadow-body in the cage.

What does the bird-seller care for the heart of a bird?