When grosbeaks show a damask rose Amid the cherry blossoms white, And early robins' nests disclose To loving eyes a joyous sight; When columbines like living coals Are gleaming 'gainst the lichened rocks, And at the foot of mossy boles Are numerous anemones in flocks; When ginger-root beneath twin leaves Conceals its dusky floral bell, And showy orchid shyly weaves In humid nook its fragrant spell; When dandelion's coin of gold Anew is minted on the lawn, And apple trees their buds unfold, While warblers storm the groves at dawn; When such delights greet eye and ear, The strike thy tasks and come away: It is the joy-month of the year, And onward sweeps the tide of May. When farmhouse doors stand open wide To welcome the balmy air, When truant boys plunge in the tide, And school-girls knots of violets wear; When grapevines crimson in the shoot, Like fin of trout in meadow stream, And morning brings the thrush's flute Where dappled lilies nod and dream; When varied tints outline the trees, Like figures sketched upon a screen, And all the forest shows degrees Of tawny red and yellow-green; When purple finches sing and soar, Then drop to perch on open wing, With vernal gladness running o'er -- The feathered lyrist of the spring: When joys like these salute the sense, And bloom and perfume fill the day, Then waiting long hath recompense, And all the world is glad with May. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CRADLE SONG AT TWILIGHT by ALICE MEYNELL BALLAD OF THE GOODLY FERE by EZRA POUND THE BARTHOLDI STATUE by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 63. AL-HAIY by EDWIN ARNOLD A DEFIANCE, RETURNING TO THE PLACE OF HIS PAST AMOURS by PHILIP AYRES THE LAST MAN: KISSES by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES |