#WingedWordsWindsday: 04/06/2022 -- A Quartet of Springtime Poems!

 

WINGED WORDS WINDSDAY

Compiled by Rob Chappell (@RHCLambengolmo)

Vol. 1, No. 23: April 6, 2022

 

 

Welcoming April with a Quartet of Poems by Evaleen Stein (1863-1923)

 

“Budding-Time Too Brief”

 

O little buds, break not so fast!

  The spring’s but new.

  The skies will yet be brighter blue,

  And sunny too.

I would you might thus sweetly last       

Till this glad season’s overpast,

  Nor hasten through.

 

It is so exquisite to feel

  The light warm Sun;

  To merely know the winter done,       

  And life begun;

And to my heart no blooms appeal

For tenderness so deep and real,

  As any one

 

Of these first April buds, that hold       

  The hint of spring’s

  Rare perfectness that May-time brings.

  So take not wings!

Oh, linger, linger, nor unfold

Too swiftly through the mellow mould,       

  Sweet growing things!

 

And errant birds, and honey-bees,

  Seek not to wile;

  And, Sun, let not your warmest smile

  Quite yet beguile     

The young peach-boughs and apple-trees

To trust their beauty to the breeze;

  Wait yet awhile!

 

“The First Redbird”

 

I heard a song at daybreak,

So honey-sweet and clear,

The essence of all joyous things

Seemed mingling in its cheer.

 

The frosty world about me

I searched with eager gaze,

But all was slumber-bound and wrapped

In violet-tinted haze.

 

Then suddenly a sunbeam

Shot slanting o’er the hill,

And once again from out the sky

I heard that honied trill.

 

And there upon a poplar,

Poised at its topmost height,

I saw a little singer clad

In scarlet plumage bright.

 

The poplar branches quivered,

By dawn winds lightly blown,

And like a breeze-swept poppy-flower

The redbird rocked and shone.

 

The blue sky, and his feathers

Flashed o’er by golden light,

Oh, all my heart with rapture thrilled,

It was so sweet a sight!

 

 

The northern cardinal (pictured above) is the official State Bird of Illinois. (Photo Credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

 

“The Redbird”

 

Swept lightly by the south wind
   The elm-leaves softly stirred,
And in their pale green clusters
   There straightway bloomed a bird!

His glossy feathers glistened
   With dyes as richly red
As any tulip flaming
   From out the garden bed.

But ah, unlike the tulips,
   In joyous strain, ere long,
This redbird flower unfolded
   A heart of golden song!

 

“Up, Little Ones!”

 

A robin redbreast, fluting there

Upon the apple-bough,

Is telling all the world how fair

Are apple-blossoms now;

The honey-dew its sweetness spills

From cuckoo-cups, and all

The crocuses and daffodils

Are dressed for festival!

 

Such pretty things are to be seen,

Such pleasant things to do,

The April Earth it is so green,

The April sky so blue,

The path from dawn to even-song

So joyous is to-day,

Up, little ones! And dance along

The lilac-scented way!