HOME THOUGHTS FROM ABROAD OH, to be in England Ο Now that April's there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware, That the lowest boughs and the brush-wood sheaf Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough In England-now! And after April, when May follows, swallows! Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge Leans to the field and scatters on the clover Blossoms and dewdrops-at the bent spray's edge That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over, Lest you should think he never could recapture The first fine careless rapture! And though the fields look rough with hoary dew, ROBERT BROWNING A CHANTED CALENDAR F IRST came the primrose, Like a maiden looking forth And saw the storms go by. Then came the wind-flower Dishevell'd in the wind. Then came the daisies, On the first of May, Like a banner'd show's advance While the crowd runs by the way, With ten thousand flowers about them they came trooping Through the fields. As a happy people come, So came they, As a happy people come When the war has roll'd away. With dances and tabor, pipe and drum, And all make holiday. Then came the cowslip, Like a dancer in the Fair, She spread her little mat of green, With a fillet bound about her brow, SYDNEY DOBELL UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE NDER the greenwood tree UNDE Who loves to lie with me, And tune his merry note Unto the sweet bird's throat, Come hither, come hither, come hither; Here shall he see No enemy But winter and rough weather. Who doth ambition shun And love to lie i' the sun, Seeking the food he eats, And pleased with what he gets, Come hither, come hither, come hither; Here shall he see No enemy But winter and rough weather. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE |