Classic Poem

P ERHAPS E LIZA smiles to see
A Letter here, and sign'd by me:
Attend a moment, nor in vain:
The mystery I'll soon explain.

Sav'd, by thy tenderness, from death,
Whose icy hand just stopp'd my breath;
Restor'd to life, to plenty, peace,
To mirth, to joy, to happiness:
Now foster'd by thy daily care,
Which does the choicest food prepare;
And ev'ry comfort still bestows
To sweeten life, and chase my woes;
I try to swell my downy throat,
And show, in ev'ry warbling note,
The love, the gratitude, which beat
Within this little bosom's seat:
With artless music to impart
The throbbings of a grateful heart;
And with my chearful song repay
The hand that feeds me day by day.

I knew thy gentle Soul full well,
The meaning of the song could tell:
Yet wish'd I for the pow'r assign'd
By fav'ring Heaven to Mankind:
For words like thine to sing my joy,
And daily thus my life employ.

At length I found a mortal breast,
With kindred sentiments impress'd:
A breast, tho' human, which can prove
The force of Gratitude and Love:
To him I sung; his bosom beat
With sympathetic thoughts replete;
He felt, and understood, the strain;
I bade him thus my notes explain:
With joy my orders he obey'd,
But, ( like a lawyer ) would be paid;
He's therefore to the post preferr'd,
Of Secretary to your Bird.