[Lydia] Maria [Child] ALS to [Anna Loring], June 21, 1840

sent them on purpose to cheer me. They
came when my body was so weary, and
my mind was so sad, and they have been
such a perpetual comfort to me! Many
people would think it very childish, but
in prayer to God I thanked him for send-
-ing me those innocent, loving, graceful
playmates. No gipsey could have set up
his tent, no monk chosen a site for his
convent, with more taste for the picturesque,
than my swallows in building their nest.
Perched on a cluster of poles, that lean
inside the arched door, they look out
upon the glancing water, and the broad
shadow of the trees; while the nest is safely
ensconced above in a snug corner made by
crossing timbers. They came and examined
the place several days before they began
to build; and such twittering, and chirping,
and bustling! And then the mother-bird
going in and out, with straws and hairs
in her mouth. One day she brought in a large
bunch of cotton wool with much apparent