Part 10

A. De Vere.

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The softest turf of English green, With sloping walks and trees between, And then a bed of flowers half-seen.

Here daffodils in early Spring And violets their off'rings bring, And sweetest birds their hymns outsing.

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When country roads begin to thaw In mottled spots of damp and dust, And fences by the margin draw Along the frozen crust Their graphic silhouettes, I say, The Spring is coming round this way.

When suddenly some shadow bird Goes wavering beneath the gaze, And through the hedge the moan is heard Of kine that fain would graze In grasses new, I smile and say, The Spring is coming round this way.

Whitcomb Riley.

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Oh, what a dawn of day! How the March sun feels like May! All is blue again After last night's rain.

Browning.

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No summer flowers are half so sweet As those of early Spring.

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Under the furze is hunger and cold, Under the broom is silver and gold.

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THE SPRING.

When wintry weather's all a-done, An' brooks do sparkle in the zun, An' naisy-builden rooks do vlee Wi' sticks toward their elem tree; When birds do zing, an' we can zee Upon the bough the buds o' spring-- Then I'm as happy as a king, A'vield wi' health an' sunshine.

Vor then the cowslips hangin' flow'r A-wetted in the zunny show'r, Do grow wi' vi'lets, sweet o' smell, Beside the wood-screen'd graegle's bell; Where drushes aggs, wi' sky-blue shell, Do lie in mossy nest among Thorns, while they do zing their zong At evenin' in the zunsheen.

W. Barnes.

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A camomile bed,-- The more it is trodden, The more it will spread.

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Thunder in spring Cold will bring.

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March search, April try, May will prove if you live or die.

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March wind and May sun Makes clothes white and maids dun.