April’s Charms

When April scatters coins of primrose gold

Among the copper leaves in thickets old,

And singing skylarks from the meadows rise,

To twinkle like black stars in sunny skies;

When I can hear the small woodpecker ring

Time on a tree for all the birds that sing;

And hear the pleasant cuckoo, loud and long-

The simple bird that thinks two notes a song;

When I can hear the woodland brook, that could

Not drawn a babe, with all his threatening mood;

Upon whose banks the violets make their home

And let a few small strawberry blossoms come:

When I go forth on such a pleasant day,

One breath outdoors takes all my cares away;

It goes like heavy smoke, when flames take hold

Of wood that’s green and fill a grate with gold.