 | The Poems of John Clare |  |
118
MAY
All nature breathes of joy and hails the May;The very flowers nod dances to the wind,
The fluttering birds about the bushes play
That shine like sheets of snow with flowers belined,
Thro' schoolhouse door; in wandering fancy's way,
The boy repeats his play-games in his mind,
And builds anew his huts of stone and clay,
That freedom left, when school hours called away,
By some barn wall or low cot's sunny side.
Among the pasture mole-hills madly play
The wool-wrapt-leggèd lambs, and in gay pride
The wild foal gallops with excess of joy,
And happy moos the calf in colours pied,
Ignorant of cares that human peace destroy.
| The Poems of John Clare | |