Up I Grew With Nature Wild

Up I grew with nature wild On a heath pure and undefiled I saw near my house a mongoose Red Mouth Running to and fro from north to south And at a Fallow Retreat not far I met a shy retiring jaguar Often I accost at nearby Four Square A ravenous grizzly bear And a tortoise hurrying somewhere Hearing my footsteps he draws his head inside Leaving me stunned and petrified And I came across a timid jackal once Who kept from me a safe distance Scanning me cunningly from top to toe And considering me a perennial foe And in winter, I behold a hedge-hog Through fog Who, at slightest rustle, hid behind a stile Reducing itself to a thorn pile Grey rabbits run amok seeing me in vicinity Thinking that I chase them with impunity Field Squirrels, however, are unperturbed With my presence they are least concerned