NEFTAH IN THE JEREED.
The word Jereed implies the Country of the Palm Branches; and the little azure sparrow, the subject of the following poem, is peculiar to that district, and is called The Father of Friendship.
It is a little azure bird,
It has a plaintive cry,
It singeth mournful to the eve,
When none beside are nigh.
But not the less its gentle song
Ariseth for the noon;
The day has not a lonely hour.
Unknowing that sweet tune.
It loveth those with whom it lives,
It loveth where it dwells;
When the green palm extends its shade
Above the desert wells.
Never those azure wings expand,
But on their southern wind;
At once it dieth, if it leave
Its native sands behind.
It pineth with familiar love
For its accustomed sky;
And even in a golden cage,
It lieth down to die.
And for the love it beareth them,
The natives hold it true,
That whosoever kills this bird
Himself must perish too.
A simple but a kind belief,
To keep it free from scaith;
And blessed whate'er in this cold world
Awakens love or faith!
L. E. L.
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