LI.

LI. THE BLUE JAY. No brigadier throughout the year So civic as the jay. A neighbor and a warrior too, With shrill felicity Pursuing winds that censure us A February day, The brother of the universe Was never blown away. The snow and he are intimate; I 've often seen them play When heaven looked upon us all With such severity, I felt apology were due To an insulted sky, Whose pompous frown was nutriment To their temerity. The pillow of this daring head Is pungent evergreens; His larder -- terse and militant -- Unknown, refreshing things; His character a tonic, His future a dispute; Unfair an immortality That leaves this neighbor out. IV. TIME AND ETERNITY.