Sympathy

If I were only a little puppy, not your baby, mother dear,

would you say “No” to me if I tried to eat from your dish?

Would you drive me off, saying to me,

“Go away, you naughty little puppy”?

Then go, mother, go! I will never come to you when you call me,

and l will never let you feed me any more.

If I were only a little green parrot, and not your baby,

mother dear, would you keep me chained lest I should fly away?

Would you shake your finger at me and say,

“What an ungrateful wretch of a bird!

It is gnawing at its chain day and night”?

Then go, mother, go! I will run away into the woods;

I will never let you take me in your arms again.

Rabindranath Tagore


(Picture: Birdcage, Kit Williams)