Page:The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table (1858) Holmes.djvu/261

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THE AUTOCRAT OF THE BREAKFAST-TABLE.
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The willow's whistling lashes, wrungBy the wild winds of gusty March,With sallow leaflets lightly strung,Are swaying by the tufted larch.
The elms have robed their slender sprayWith full-blown flower and embryo leaf;Wide o'er the clasping arch of daySoars like a cloud their hoary chief.
——[See the proud tulip's flaunting cup,That flames in glory for an hour,―Behold it withering,-then look up,—How meek the forest-monarch's flower!—
When wake the violets, Winter dies;When sprout the elm-buds, Spring is near;When lilacs blossom, Summer cries,"Bud, little roses! Spring is here!"]
The windows blush with fresh bouquets,Cut with the May-dew on their lips;The radish all its bloom displays,Pink as Aurora's finger-tips.
Nor less the flood of light that showersOn beauty's changed corolla-shades,—The walks are gay as bridal bowersWith rows of many-petalled maids.
The scarlet shell-fish click and clashIn the blue barrow where they slide;The horseman, proud of streak and splash,Creeps homeward from his morning ride.
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