University of Virginia Library

A SONG OF SPRING.

Welcome, the opening buds of spring;
Welcome, the dew and rain;
Welcome, the merry birds that sing;
Welcome, the bursting grain.
Welcome, the balmy airs that breathe,
The rainbows, and the showers;
Welcome, the early flowers that wreathe
Their beauty round our bowers.

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Wild from a thousand warbling throats
Melodious music rings;
Matin and vesper swells and floats,—
Nature's sweet offerings.
Each bird that soars, each bud that breaks
In beauty from its cell,
Tuneful, or still, one accent wakes,—
“God has done all things well.”
Let tree and wood, let vale and hill,
Swell the sweet, grateful song,
And wave, and rock, and rippling rill,
The echoing strain prolong.