'O spare my cherries in the net,' <br />Brother Benignus prayed; 'and I <br />Summer and winter, shine and wet, <br />Will pile the blackbirds' table high.' <br /> <br />'O spare my youngling peas,' he prayed, <br />'That for the Abbot's table be; <br />And every blackbird shall be fed; <br />Yea, they shall have their fill,' said he. <br /> <br />His prayer, his vow, the blackbirds heard, <br />And spared his shining garden-plot. <br />In abstinence went every bird, <br />All the old thieving ways forgot. <br /> <br />He kept his promise to his friends, <br />And daily set them finest fare <br />Of corn and meal and manchet-ends, <br />With marrowy bones for winter bare. <br /> <br />Brother Benignus died in grace: <br />The brethren keep his trust, and feed <br />The blackbirds in this pleasant place, <br />Purged, as dear heaven, from strife and greed. <br /> <br />The blackbirds sing the whole year long, <br />Here where they keep their promise given, <br />And do the mellowing fruit no wrong. <br />Brother Benignus smiles in heaven.<br /><br />Katharine Tynan<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-bird-s-bargain-2/
