 | Griselda |  |
229
JANUARY.
Which of the merry months shall I praise?
Meadow birds, say!
Shall the April nights, or the Autumn days,
Have place in my lay?
“Oh the sun of the summer is golden and strong,
And the flowers of the summer shine fairly and long,
Sing thou to the summer the first of thy song,
As we sing on the spray.”
No! no!
Meadow birds, no!
Mine is the month that is born in the snow.
Meadow birds, say!
Shall the April nights, or the Autumn days,
Have place in my lay?
“Oh the sun of the summer is golden and strong,
And the flowers of the summer shine fairly and long,
Sing thou to the summer the first of thy song,
As we sing on the spray.”
No! no!
Meadow birds, no!
Mine is the month that is born in the snow.
Which of the months shall my chaplet crown?
Red rose, speak!
Shall it glitter on August's brow of brown,
Or shade May's cheek?
“Though thy chaplet be silver and almondine,
The finer and fairer it shine, I ween,
'Tis the fitter for May, for the sweet spring queen,
No farther seek!”
Rose, no!
My month, I trow,
Wears the red berries, and stars of snow.
Red rose, speak!
Shall it glitter on August's brow of brown,
Or shade May's cheek?
230
The finer and fairer it shine, I ween,
'Tis the fitter for May, for the sweet spring queen,
No farther seek!”
Rose, no!
My month, I trow,
Wears the red berries, and stars of snow.
Ah! wouldst thou know, rosy blossom of spring,
Why I crown not May?
Askest thou, bird, why I will not sing
To thy summer day?
May hath the bud, and the bee, and the dove,
And the sky of the summer is bluest above,
But the year's first month, she bringeth my love,
And her bridal-day!
Say, is it wrong
To keep crown and song
For the month that leadeth my lady along?
Why I crown not May?
Askest thou, bird, why I will not sing
To thy summer day?
May hath the bud, and the bee, and the dove,
And the sky of the summer is bluest above,
But the year's first month, she bringeth my love,
And her bridal-day!
Say, is it wrong
To keep crown and song
For the month that leadeth my lady along?
December, 1854.
| Griselda | |