TESTO DEL LIED

"The red cockatoo"
di Arthur Waley (1889-1969)

Sent as a present from Annam -
A red cockatoo.
Colour'd like the peach-tree blossom,
Speaking with the speech of men.
And they did to it what is always done
To the learned and eloquent.
They took a cage with stout bars
And shut it up inside.