Behold the robin's breast aglow An on the lawn he seeks his game; His cap a darker hue doth show, His bill a yellow flame. Now in the elm-tops see the swarm Of swelling buds like bees in May; The maples, too, have tints blood warm, And willows show a golden ray. In sunny woods the mould makes room For liver leaf to ope her eye; A tiny firmament of bloom With stars upon a mimic sky. Forth from the hive go voyaging bees, Cruising far each sunny hour; Scenting sap 'mid maple trees, Or sifting bread from sawdust flour. Up from the marsh a chorus shrill Of piping frogs swells in the night; The meadowlark shows flashing quill As o'er brown fields she takes her flight. Now "mourning-cloak" takes up her clew And dances through the sunny glades; And sluggish turtles painted new Are creeping forth where bittern wades. Now screaming hawks soar o'er the wood, And sparrows red haunt bush banks; The starlings gossip, "Life is good," And grackles pass in sable ranks. The rye-fields show a tender hue Of freshening green amid the brown, And pussy-willow's clad anew Along the brook in silver gown. The purple finch hath found his tongue, From out the elm tree what a burst! Now once again all things are young, Renewed by love as at the first. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ULYSSES AND THE SIREN by SAMUEL DANIEL THE SCORPION by WILLIAM PLOMER EPIPSYCHIDION by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY TO A FOIL'D EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONAIRE by WALT WHITMAN INSTRUCTIONS, SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN IN PARIS, FOR THE MOB IN ENGLAND by MARY (CUMBERLAND) ALCOCK THE LIGHT OF ASIA by EDWIN ARNOLD BALLADE OF THE FOREST HAUNTERS by THEODORE FAULLAIN DE BANVILLE |