"The Convict and the Bird" (1888)
Song and Chorus.
By Paul Dresser (1858-1906)
Author of "The Song of Father Time"

New York: Willis Woodward & Co.
[Source: 136/048@Levy]

1. A convict sat in a prison cell, 
Doom’d al the days of his life, 
And his thoughts went out to the one he loved, 
To his home, to his babe and wife, 
A songs [?] lit on his window sill, 
And the poor soul’s heart was stirred; 
For he seemed to sing of the days gone by, 
To the convict sang the bird; 

He seemed to sing of the sunshine, 
He seemed to sing of the clouds, 
He seemed to sing of prosperity, 
And of poverty’s sombre shrouds, 
He seemed to sing of freedom, 
In the sky near the sun’s bright ray, 
And so he brought to his eyes the tears. 
The bird it flew away. 

[CHORUS 1]
Come to me each day, 
Come to me I pray, 
Thou messenger of freedom come to me, 
Let me hear each note, 
That bubbles from the throat, 
The convict like the bird would fain be free. 

2. The bird he came to sing his song, 
At dusk on a summers day, 
And the poor thing chirped in loneliness, 
For no convict heard his lay. 
He sung his notes so plaintively, 
The ? for tongue to tell, 
And at early morn, the faithful bird, 
Lay dead in the convict’s cell; 

He sung no more of the sunshine, 
He sung no more of the clouds, 
He sang no more of prosperity, 
Nor of poverty’s sombre shrouds, 
He sang no morn of freedom, 
In the sky near the sun’s bright ray, 
And so he finished his song, 
The faithful bird it passed away. 

[CHORUS 2]
He came no more they say, 
He come no more each day, 
The messenger of freedom more could see, 
Silent was the cell, 
As if by magic spell, 
The convict like the bird again was free.