Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-07-03
Down Low.

ouaintance to twitter to her, and she had
never been there before. But grand as
this country was it looked so familiar to
her that she could scarcely keep from
making herself at home in it all at once.
Her courage, however, was soon dashed
when she began to listen to the various
songs that were being carolled all around
about her. She knew very well that the
law of the land was that no bird that
could not sing beautifully should be al
lowed to dwell within its limits, and l
suppose it was because she loved singing
and was always trying to sing that she
found her way thither. | can account
for ii no other way, since she had a de-
feet in her wings, which was always
bringing her to grief, and which cruelty
caused her to flutter along close to the
ground, when she was trying with all
her might to fly high. And | do not
know what plying wind drifted her hith-
or into the land of song. But | do
know that she was so glad to Fget there
that she never wantedpto go away again.
She had never before heard such won
derful singing as that to which she lis
tened now.
''Oh | cannot sing like that. They
will not let me stay, she said, and hung
her little homely head, sadly enough.
Glow very beautiful must be the
birds sing such beautiful songs! :" she
said, after a space.
She could hardly get glimpse of the
most beautiful singers among them, they
were so high up; but when the leaves
of the trees were parted by the helpful
wind every once in while she man
| aged to see one or two of them, and
(. +x,l - v1I hat thnt
plumage was almost as dingy as her
own. But then they were not lame in
their wings. And then they are very
strong, She thought, else how could
they have gotten up so high?
Then the poor heart of her lay like
stone in her brown breast and made her
dumb.
ooh, why did l ever come here p she
cried in agony. Yet, since she had come
she felt that She had rather die than go
away.
Il think | can sing a little, she said,
and so she hoped painfully upon the
very lowest limb and began:
How shall bird on a crippled wing,
| Ever get up into the sky?
| Is it not better to cease to sing
/ To drOOp and to die
There are so many before me there,
With songs so long and loud and sweet,
They startle the passer unaware
am at his feet!
And though I sing with a quiyering breast
And a dewy eye and swelling throat;
! My heart so close to the thorn is pressed.
That spoil each note.
/ And if ever | sing a song,
Sweet OF the sweet and tru- OF the true.
| All of it's drowned by the birds ere long,
Up in the blue.
o. for one hour of rapturous strength.
To sing one song in the sky!
! High over all the length
Then could die
| don't believe that any one heard
! her. They were all listening to them
selves, and none cared for the insignif-
cant song of this small, lame bird. Be
sides she was way Down Low, and none
Of the strong winged birds higher up
came to keep her company. But she
took heart on finding that they did not
notice her enough to drive her away;
and at last, once in a long while, two or
three passers would stop and listen to
her low chirps. No one could have been
more astOnished at this than the singer
| herself Set do believe that-though
she did not look for it-without this
small encouragement she would lave
| hung her head and died
1t was her crippled wings that
troubled her most, however, for it SEEM
ed as if when people found out about
them the would not value her singing as
much as they had done before.
BY and by, a great noise of war shook
the land, and invaded even the Realm
of Singing. There was so much martial
music, such a steady tramping of armed
men, such a glancing of steel in the sun,
that at first the small bird down low,
turned giddy, and almost fell from her
twig And then this poor thing forgot
her sad strait and began to sing out loud
loud and even in her delirlum of eX-
element, tried to fly.
Most of the birds higher up had been
stunned into silence by the unwonted tu-
mutt below, and that was one reason,
suppose, why this intoxicated creature
who had suddenly found her voice, be-
gan to be heard. She did not know any
thing about the science of singing. But
her heart was so full that it came out,
though in a faulty way in her song.
Some notes were sung at random, and
sometimes she made queer work of it
all and Justice compels me to add that
this was not only a friendless and I'M
fortunate bird, but careless one, too.
She loved to sing when she felt like it..
but she did not love to study singing.
Consequently many people saId
''What sort of a song is this ?" and
they laughed at her.
But then again, there were some war
worn men in military coats tramping
along by the way side, sad and tired at
heart, who nevertheless liked to listen
to this absurd singing, and who were
sometimes cheered by it. So after a
while, some sharp eyes of other men be-
gan to search for the singer. And when
they found her on the lowest twig, hid
den by the leaves, they said:
''What have we here? A crippled
bird that tries to sing Such a thing was
never heard of before 1t is impossible
for her to sing correctly under such cir
cumstances, and we were certainly mis-
taken In thinking that there was any
thing in such songs. Our ears have de-
ceived u.s."
They then withdrew, adding
eve will forgive you, poor thing, for
trying to sing. And all the circumstan-
ces considered, you do quite nicely. But
then you know this isn't singing. The
birds who do the real singing are not
crippled as you are. Don't you know
that birds in your unfortunate situation
never succeed in singing. The pain in
lures their voices, or strikes them dumb
altogether, and you cannot hope to be
an exception to the general rule. But,
as we said before, your efforts. though
they fail, are quite commendable. But
what's the use of trying, when you cant
You know So, alb Good morning. ;
Now, the poor bird thought this was
the unkindest cut of ALL
s'Why, lameness doesn't affect my
voice, she cried II know it doesn't
because they listened to me and calleC
IL singing, till they discovered | wa.
crippled in the wings. And if | die
sing false once in a while, it is no more
than other birds with sound wings hay,
done sometimes. All, not because
was crippled did sing false, but be
cause / have not studied singing I, my
self, am to blame for my failure, anC
r.. 7 l.