The Bird Lyrics
A lady tries to tempt a bird to become her pet with a velvet bed, a necklace of jewels and a golden cup. The bird turns down every offer, because a rocking twig and the open air suit it better, and flies off. Three offers and three answers, 25 lines.
The Bird
"Birdie, Birdie, will you pet?
Summer-time is far away yet,
You'll have silken quilts and a velvet bed,
And a pillow of satin for your head!"
"I'd rather sleep in the ivy wall;
No rain comes through, tho' I hear it fall;
The sun peeps gay at dawn of day,
And I sing, and wing away, away!"
"O Birdie, Birdie, will you pet?
Diamond-stones and amber and jet
We'll string for a necklace fair and fine
To please this pretty bird of mine!"
"O thanks for diamonds, and thanks for jet,
But here is something daintier yet -
A feather-necklace round and round,
That I wouldn't sell for a thousand pound!"
"O Birdie, Birdie, won't you pet?
We'll buy you a dish of silver fret,
A golden cup and an ivory seat,
And carpets soft beneath your feet!"
"Can running water be drunk from gold?
Can a silver dish the forest hold?
A rocking twig is the finest chair,
And the softest paths lie through the air -
Good-bye, good-bye to my lady fair!"
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/the-bird/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Written by
- William Allingham
- Tune
- Read the lady's offers in a coaxing, sing-song voice and the bird's answers brisk and bright
- Best for ages
- 4 to 9 years
What Does The Bird Mean?
The poem is a conversation that repeats three times. Each time a lady calls, "Birdie, Birdie, will you pet?" and means: will you be my pet, and live with me? Pet is used here as a verb. She makes her offers bigger each time. First come silken quilts, a velvet bed and a satin pillow. Then a necklace strung from diamonds, amber and jet, a shiny black stone. Last come a silver dish, a golden cup, an ivory seat and soft carpets.
The bird answers every one with something it likes better. It would rather sleep in the ivy on a wall, where no rain comes through and the sun peeps in at dawn. Its own necklace is a ring of feathers that it "wouldn't sell for a thousand pound". And running water cannot be drunk from gold, a silver dish cannot hold the forest, and "a rocking twig is the finest chair", with the softest paths "through the air". With that the bird says goodbye to the lady and flies away.
No one is hurt and nothing is taken. The point is simple: what is best for one creature is not the same as what looks grand to another. It works well as a poem for two readers, one for the lady and one for the bird.
History and Origin
William Allingham (1824 to 1889) was an Irish poet. This poem is in his book Rhymes for the Young Folk, published by Cassell and Company with pictures by Helen Allingham, Kate Greenaway and others. The book was already on sale by 1887, when a bookseller's list advertised it.
Learning Activities
- Two voices: one child is the lady and offers a new gift each time, while another is the bird and says no in a cheerful voice.
- Offer your own: think of a grander offer for the lady to make, and what the bird might answer.
- Rocking twig: hold your arms out like branches and sway, then flap and glide on the line about paths through the air.
- Draw the choice: fold a page in two, draw the lady's gifts on one side and the bird's ivy wall and rocking twig on the other.