The Skylark's Reply


What thou art we know not;
What is most like thee?

Hail to thee, dear Percy!
I'm rather large and brown,
With songs to rival Circe
When flying up or down -
Arvensis or gulgula (alauda is the noun).

I crouch when I am frightened;
Perhaps I'm like a chimp.
You don't seem too enlightened,
Writing rather limp.
Witless, so your query tells me; something of a wimp.

My crest is called "obscure":
Like your poems, as one sees.
My chirrup's liquid, pure;
I live away from trees.
Nineteen centimetres long. Can I be off now, please?

From Send-Up

The Skylark's Reply