Home Thoughts from Abroad
Oh to be in England
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England - now!
And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark! where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops - at the bent spray's edge -
That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower
- Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower.
Robert Browning (1812 - 1889)
4 comments:
When I saw the subject of this on my bloglist I expected, with a hollow nod of appreciation for its appropriateness "April, April, laugh thy girlish laughter" - is that Browning?
A lovely poem, thanks for posting!
Hi Sandra - apparently that's William Watson though I'm actually unfamiliar with it - so thank you!
Glad you liked it Joanne!
Hi Anne - how times have changed .. a certainty in the weather .. now it's bliss it's damp and is drying up at the coast .. though inland it looked all doom and gloom - good for the gardens, now that April is here..
Cheers Hilary
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