A Nightingale from Athens, where
Promethean chorus filled the air,
And temples, statues, gods, looked down
On heroes, bards, and sages there,
Once came (for reasons hid from me)
Across the irrevocable sea
And dwelt in flat and sordid Town
Of Prairie Dogs, and Snakes, and Owls,
The name whereof was Gossipville.
The Owls, the Prairie Dogs, the Snakes
Began with fang and jaw and bill:
" That Creature's surely no great shakes —
The stupidest of all the Fowls
Of Sea, or Air, or Plains, or Lakes! —
Just see the way she soars a-wing,
Just hear the way she tries to sing,
As if she owned the sky and moon —
She's crazy, or she will be soon. "

MORAL

Alas for one who giveth vent
To native genius, native bent,
Within the wrong environment!