 | [The April birthday, in] The opal : a pure gift for the holy days |  |
263
THE APRIL BIRTHDAY.
Dark clouds my natal morning overcast,
And sullen lay each upland, grove, and field,
The tender germs shrunk from the chilly blast,
And on the swollen buds the mist congealed.
And sullen lay each upland, grove, and field,
The tender germs shrunk from the chilly blast,
And on the swollen buds the mist congealed.
But noontide came,—and from their vapoury shroud
Mountain and streamlet gloriously broke,
The verdure freshened, radiant grew the cloud,
And nature smiled as if her Maker spoke.
Mountain and streamlet gloriously broke,
The verdure freshened, radiant grew the cloud,
And nature smiled as if her Maker spoke.
Effulgent skies the landscape now unfold,
To cheer each budding leaf and tendril pale,
While blades of herbage pierce the clammy ground,
And dead stalks rustle in the vernal gale.
To cheer each budding leaf and tendril pale,
While blades of herbage pierce the clammy ground,
And dead stalks rustle in the vernal gale.
On the peach boughs how delicate a bloom
With summer hopes the peasant's heart beguiles!
While piny odours from his quiet room
Lure the glad student to the forest aisles.
With summer hopes the peasant's heart beguiles!
While piny odours from his quiet room
Lure the glad student to the forest aisles.
And breezes warm the prisoned earth release,
Bidding her throw her last cold chain aside,
And won by April's sweet and fond caprice,
Deck her wan bosom like a virgin bride.
Bidding her throw her last cold chain aside,
And won by April's sweet and fond caprice,
Deck her wan bosom like a virgin bride.
264
Be thou an omen of my future years!
As pleasant sunshine cometh after rain,
Let smiles of hope yet triumph over tears,
And love illume the gloominess of pain!
As pleasant sunshine cometh after rain,
Let smiles of hope yet triumph over tears,
And love illume the gloominess of pain!
And as beneath the elemental strife
The seed doth ripen into fruit mature,
So may the shade and sunshine of my life
Bring truth to guide, and wisdom to endure!
The seed doth ripen into fruit mature,
So may the shade and sunshine of my life
Bring truth to guide, and wisdom to endure!
And when earth's brooding clouds shall disappear,
And all the mists of time are rolled away,
May light eternal from a higher sphere
Break on my vision like this April day!
And all the mists of time are rolled away,
May light eternal from a higher sphere
Break on my vision like this April day!
| [The April birthday, in] The opal : a pure gift for the holy days | |