All day and every day,
Upon a hawthorn spray,
Early and late,
A redbreast robin sings,
And flirts his nut-brown wings,
Beside my gate.
A hawk hangs in the sky,
A weasel low doth spy
From out the grass,
This bird that had no care
Pipes sweet his happy prayer
To all who pass.
All night and every night,
He, hidden from our sight,
Awaits the morn;
The seeking owl swoops low,
The evil rat doth go
Beneath the thorn.
But redbreast robin sings,
Flirting his nut-brown wings,
When dawn is here.
Upon a hawthorn spray
He sings of holiday,
And hath no fear.
All day and every day
I seek his prayer to say
And understand,
Because the hawk that flies,
The stoat who hides and spies,
Leave me unmanned.
And in the dark of night
The owl in silent flight
Will swoop and dart,
The evil rat doth creep
When comes reluctant sleep,
To tear my heart.
But redbreast robin sings,
And shakes his dew-wet wings,
Nor sighs, ‘Alas.’
This bird that had no care
Pipes forth his happy prayer
To all who pass.