APRIL 



AY O U N G Man in Green, with a Garland of 

 Mirtle, and Hawthorn-buds ; Winged ; in one hand 

 Primroses and Violets, in the other the Sign Taurus. 



PROUD PIED APRIL 



YOUNG April takes up with a will his task of greening 

 the world " making it all one emerald." 

 Advertising The hawthorns turn green while we wait. 

 April For the promise of a screen at last for his 



eggs, the blackbird gives due praise. He 

 praises every spring thing himself included, one 

 suspects, for there seems something peculiarly self- 

 expressive in his lazy notes. The bird's behaviour often 

 suggests that he is a pessimist as black as his coat the 

 way he skulks in shadowy places, like the embodied 

 spirit of a Blackfoot Indian. But his voice proves that 

 his heart is as golden as his bill. 



WHAT the poet meant by naming the month " Proud, 



pied April," is very clear in the beech- woods, 



Pied ' where the trees are now breaking, in their 



April hesitating way, into verdure, with here a 



small spray of greenery on a tree, there 



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