The Rabbit’s Song Outside the Tavern 

  

We, who play under the pines, 

We, who dance in the snow 

That shines blue in the light of the moon, 

Sometimes halt as we go- 

Stand with our ears erect, 

Our noses testing the air, 

To gaze at the golden world 

Behind the windows there. 

  

Suns they have in a cave, 

Stars, each on a tall white stem, 

And the thought of a fox or an owl 

Seems never to trouble them. 

They laugh and eat and are warm, 

Their food is ready at hand, 

While hungry out in the cold 

We little rabbits stand. 

  

But they never dance as we dance! 

They haven't the speed nor the grace. 

We scorn both the dog and the cat 

Who lie by their fireplace. 

We scorn them licking their paws 

Their eyes on an upraised spoon- 

We who dance hungry and wild 

Under a winter's moon.  

                             Elizabeth Coatsworth