Sonnet X Poem by Robert Anderson

TO A REDBREAST, WHICH VISITED THE AUTHOR DAILY FOR SOME MONTHS.
WRITTEN NOV. .

Domestic songster of the waning year,
I bid thee welcome, and thy wild notes greet;
Altho' they tell th'approach of winter drear,
No artful concert's to mine ear so sweet!
Emblem of Poverty! how hard thy fate
When the wild tempests scowl along the sky!
E'en now methinks thou wail'st thy absent mate,
Singing thy love--lorn song:--just so do I.
Peace to the bard, who, taught by Nature's law,
From tyrant man at once could set thee free:
Oft have I read his plaintive tale of woe,
Oft shed a tear for Innocence and thee.
Come then, sweet bird! nor wander to and fro,
Welcome to share this humble roof with me.