The Making of Birds

God made Him birds in a pleasant humor;
Tired of planets and suns was He.
He said, ” I will add a glory to summer,
Gifts for my creatures banished from Me! ”

He had a thought and it set Him smiling,
Of the shape of a bird and its glancing head,
Its dainty air and its grace beguiling:
” I will make feathers, ” the Lord God said.

He made the robin: He made the swallow;
His deft hands moulding the shape to His mood;
The thrush, the lark, and the finch to follow,
And laughed to see that His work was good.