SPRING
Reading edition
Young leaves grow green on the banyan twigs, And red on the peepul tree, The honey-birds pipe to the budding figs, And honey-blooms call to the bee. Poppies squander their fragile gold In the silvery aloe-brake; Coral and ivory lilies unfold Their delicate lives on the lake. Kingfishers ruffle the feathery sedge, And all the vivid air thrills With butterfly-wings in the wild-rose hedge, And the luminous blue of the hills. Sarojini Naidu.