A Bird Came Down the Walk

A bird came down the walk:

He did not know I saw;

He bit an angle-worm in

And ate the fellow, raw.

And then he drank a

From a convenient grass,

And then hopped sidewise to the

To let a beetle pass.

He glanced with rapid

That hurried all abroad,—

They looked like frightened beads,

I thought;

He stirred his velvet

Like one in danger; cautious,

I offered him a crumb,

And he unrolled his

And rowed him softer

Than oars divide the ocean,

Too silver for a seam,

Or butterflies, off banks of noon,

Leap, plashless, as they swim.