Page:Pocahontas and Other Poems (NY).pdf/44

THE EARLY BLUE-BIRD.

---

Blue-bird! on yon leafless tree,
Dost thou carol thus to me,
"Spring is coming! Spring is here?"
Say'st thou so, my birdie dear?
What is that, in misty shroud,
Stealing from the darken'd cloud?
Lo! the snow-flakes' gathering mound
Settles o'er the whiten'd ground,
Yet thou singest, blithe and clear,
"Spring is coming! Spring is here!"

Strik'st thou not too bold a strain?
Winds are piping o'er the plain;
Clouds are sweeping o'er the sky
With a black and threatening eye;
Urchins, by the frozen rill,
Wrap their mantles closer still;
Yon poor man, with doublet old,
Doth he shiver at the cold?
Hath he not a nose of blue?
Tell me, birdling, tell me true.

Spring's a maid of mirth and glee,
Rosy wreaths, and revelry:
Hast thou woo'd some winged love
To a nest in verdant grove?