APRIL. 1 09 



STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



BY WILSON FLAGG. 



No. 2. The Early Flowers. 



APRIL. 



Morning has spread her roses in the east ; 



The bahiiy vernal breezes are released ; 



And April sends her showers on plain and wood, 



To raise the seeds the breath of Autumn strewed. 



The sun to light the dales and wake the flowers, 



Has added to his car more winged hours, 



And lingers with benevolent delay, 



To warm the earth and cheer the vernal day. 



The face of nature dawns with new delight : 



Crowds of reviving things attract our sight ; 



Led onward by the rosy hours of spring, 



Millions of birds again are on the wing ; 



The naked trees look brighter in the field, 



Where frequent stripes of verdure are revealed. 



The buds are swelling in the lilac bush. 



And sprouting daffodils are firm and flush ; 



Tulips are peeping out in sunny places, 



And infant snowdrops show their lily faces ; 



The early wild flowers, on the mossy knolls, 



Are pushing up their little purple scrolls ; 



And many a bright familiar plant has risen 



In sudden beauty from its icy prison. 



Tho' April wears a changeful countenance. 



Yet as her budding, radiant hosts advance. 



She rules the earth with more benignant sway. 



Till she resigns her crown to flowery-kirtled May. 



In our climate we seldom realize, during the months of 

 April and May, that pleasant temperature which is supposed 

 to characterize the vernal season of the year. The earth is 

 often covered with snow until the first of April, and the 

 weather is too cold for vegetation before the middle of the 

 month. The progress of the year is retarded by the preva- 

 lence of northeasterly winds, and the icebergs that float 

 down from the Arctic seas infuse a chill into our atmosphere, 

 long after the sun has brought out the early flowers, and 

 arrayed the whole wilderness in blossoms. The vernal flow- 

 ers of our climate do not begin to appear before the middle 



