[ALFRED DE MUSSET]

On a beautiful day of Spring,
Attracted by the strange charm of mystery,
I followed a lonely alley-way.

The west breeze was sweet;
Blue was the sky,
While in the branches of a lime tree
Chirped a bird-mother feeding her little ones.

And there I discerned a thousand charms
In the poetic scene;
While two large brown eyes in amazement
Laughed down at me.

Above my head the chirping of the birdlings
Mingled with the song of the birds;
And ere I knew it, I passed on
Ne'er to return ...

And now alone, in fancy
I stray again within the alley-way;
While the cries and the songs of the birds
Follow me always.
The warble I had heard,
The immortal voice,
Made for me a poem.

This poem all birds sing,
Because of their green shelter
All the little songsters
Chant of the loveliest Springtime days ...