May-Day

Book Excerpt: ...well I mind the calendar, Faithful through a thousand years, Of the painted race of flowers, Exact to days, exact to hours, Counted on the spacious dialYon broidered zodiac girds. I know the pretty almanacOf the punctual coming-back, On their due days, of the birds. I marked them yestermorn, A flock of finches dartingBeneath the crystal arch, Piping, as they flew, a march, --Belike the one they used in partingLast year from yon oak or larch; Dusky sparrows in a crowd, Diving, darting northward free, Suddenly betook them all, Every one to his hole in the wall, Or to his niche in the apple-tree. I greet with joy the choral trainsFresh from palms and Cuba's canes. Best gems of Nature's cabinet, With dews of tropic morning wet, Beloved of children, bards, and Spring, O birds, your perfect virtues bring, Your song, your forms, your rhythmic flight, Your manners for the heart's delight