Page:Poetry of the Magyars.djvu/126

20 THE GAY-PLUMED BIRD.

Egy kis tarka madár víg kedvében.

gay-plumed bird, whose never-bridled flight

O'er field, o'er forest, is one long delight;

Were I a gay-plumed bird, how blest 't would be

Thy songs to sing, to fly, to rest with thee,

Thou gay-plumed bird!

Thou gay-plumed bird, thou canst no longer sing!

Thou art imprisoned by the fowler's spring;

Were I a gay-plumed bird, I would not go

Sporting with such delusive treacheries. No!

Thou gay-plumed bird!

Thou gay-plumed bird, though liberty is gone,

Yet kindness waits thy every want upon;

Were I a gay-plumed bird, I still should long

For the free heaven and the wild woodland song,

Thou gay-plumed bird!

Thou gay-plumed bird, thy golden chain to me

Were but a decorated misery!

Were I a gay-plumed bird, I would not fill

Thy gaudy prison, were it gaudier still,

Thou gay-plumed bird!