To see an airy monarch drowned,
To them was something new

Some gave a quick, astonished look,
And darted swift away;
While some his parting plumage shook,
And nibbled him for prey.

O! who that saw that bird at noon
So high and proudly soar,
Could think how awkwardly--how soon,
He'd fall to rise no more?

Though glory, majesty, and pride
Were his an hour ago,
Deprived of all, that eagle died,
For stooping once too low!

Now, have you ever known or heard
Of biped, from his sphere
Descending, like that silly bird
To buy a fish so dear?

=The Two Thieves=

A lady, they called her Miss Mouse,
In a slate-colored dress, like a Quaker,
Once lived in a snug little house,
Of which she herself was the maker.

There lived in another close by,
A dame, whom they called Lady Kitty;
But that she was stationed so nigh,
Miss Mouse often thought a great pity.

For she, though so soberly clad,
And never inclined to ill-speaking,
Had often a fancy to gad,
Or more than her own might be seeking.

She did not then like to be scanned,
Or questioned respecting her duty,
When some little theft she had planned,
Or seen coming home with her booty.

So modest she was, and so shy,
Although an inveterate sinner,
She'd nip out her part of the pie
Before it was brought up to dinner.

She held that 'twas folly to ask
For what her own wits would allow her;
And, making her way through the cask,
She helped herself well to the flour.

The candles she scraped to their wicks;
And, mischievous in her invention,
Would do many more naughty tricks,
Which I, as her friend, cannot mention.

Kit, too, had her living to make,
And yet, she was so above toiling,
She'd sooner attack the beef-steak,
When the cook had prepared it for broiling.

And so, near a dish of warm toast,
She often most patiently lingered,
To seize her first chance; yet, could boast
That none ever called her _light-fingered_.

But mending, or minding herself,
She thought would be quite too much labor,
And so peeped about on the shelf,
To spy out the faults of her neighbor.

For Mouse loved to promenade there,
While Kit would watch close to waylay her;
And once, in the midst of her fare,
Up bounded Miss Kitty to slay her!

But this was as luckless a jump
As ever Kit made, with the clatter
Of knife, skimmer, spoon, and a thump,
Which she got, as she threw down the platter.

While