May marches in waving flags as she enters: Iris -- red, yellow, and purple, and blue; Violets peer from the grass as she passes, Lilacs wave censers, while may-flowers scent dew. Lily-bells ring in the quietest corners, Orioles chant with the sweetest of tunes; Pansies wag saucily, -- they're not Jack Horners; Robins lute gayly, -- they're ushering Junes. Soon June arrives in the bridal procession Carrying roses, pink, yellow and white, Garlands of bridal-wreath fall from her tresses Where poppies glare scarlet. They're ready to fight. Wild to oppose them, the bachelor-buttons Wear, oh so proudly, their uniforms blue. Jack-in-the-pulpits preach sermons to cowslips Who leave ladies-slippers in woods as a clue. We must not linger where pansies are fading, For daisies are calling, and buttercups sigh; Asters are opening, young birds are peeping, Peonies bow to us, catching our eye. Summer flies in with its glorious colors, Blare of bird trumpets, and symphonic song, Waving of incense, sweetest of odors, Trailing wild beauty the pathway along. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WERE I BUT HIS OWN WIFE by ELLEN MARY PATRICK DOWNING FAREWELL, UNKIST by THOMAS WYATT THE WILD SWANS AT COOLE by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE LAURELS ARE FELLED by THEODORE FAULLAIN DE BANVILLE PILLBOX by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN WAR'S PEOPLE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN |