Nest Eggs

Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)



Birds all the summer day
Flutter and quarrel
Here in the arbour-like
Tent of the laurel.

Here in the fork
The brown nest is seated;
For little blue eggs
The mother keeps heated.

While we stand watching her
Staring like gabies,
Safe in each egg are the
Bird's little babies.

Soon the frail eggs they shall
Chip, and upspringing
Make all the April woods
Merry with singing.

Younger than we are,
O children, and frailer,
Soon in the blue air they'll be,
Singer and sailor.

We, so much older,
Taller and stronger,
We shall look down on the
Birdies no longer.

They shall go flying
With musical speeches
High overhead in the
Tops of the beeches.

In spite of our wisdom
And sensible talking,
We on our feet must go
Plodding and walking.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

41 sec read
232

Quick analysis:

Scheme XABA XCDC EDFX XBXG XEXE EEFE GXFD XGXG
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 737
Words 135
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. more…

All Robert Louis Stevenson poems | Robert Louis Stevenson Books

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