On the trellis in the garden where the sweet peas used to grow,
A lot of hungry little birds are sitting in a row,
And eagerly they're waiting for the little girl who comes
At breakfast time each morning, with a platter full of crumbs.

There are quiet a lot of sparrows, three robins, and two tits,
And a blackbird with a golden bill who in the centre sits;
And they're weary, weary waiting, and they wonder what is wrong
To keep the little girlie with her plate of crumbs so long.

But the girl has not forgotten them, though she is ill in bed,
And she makes her mother promise that she'll take the crumbs instead:
"Oh, Mother, they'll be hungry now, so take their breakfast quick,
And tell them that I cannot come because I am so sick."

Now if the birds did understand or not I cannot tell,
But to her window everyday they came till she was well;
The blackbird, robins, and the tits all hoped she'd soon be strong,
And the sparrows cried, "Cheer up, cheer up!" to her the whole day long.

Andrew Dodds