APRIL

Now rings the woodland loud and long, The distance takes a lovelier hue, And, drowned in yonder living blue, The lark becomes a sightless song. Now dance the lights on lawn and lea, The flocks are whiter down the vale, And milkier every milky sail On winding stream or distant sea; Where now the seamew pipes, or dives In yonder greening gleam, and fly The happy birds, that change their sky To build and brood; that live their lives From land to land; and in my breast Spring wakens, too; and my regret Becomes an April violet, And buds and blossoms like the rest.