“But our bird knew not of the free blue air,
He had lived in his cage, and his home was there :
No flight had he in the green wood flown —
He pined not for freedom he never had known!
If he had lived amid leaf and bough
It had been cruel to fetter him now;
For I have seen a poor bird die,
And all for love of his native sky.”

— Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The Dead Robin
Traits and Trials of Early Life (1836)

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Letitia Elizabeth Landon 785

English poet and novelist 1802–1838

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Letitia Elizabeth Landon 785

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