girard] how do I KNOW? 157 



found in the Boy Scout Handbook and other standard books on 

 scouting and woodcraft. Most people do not know how to be at 

 home in the woods ; the over-night trip gives unusual opportunities 

 to develop this side of nature-stud3\ 



How Do I Know? 



Hope H. Girard 



How do I know that spring is coming? 



The brook is swelling, the willow budding; 



A gentler breeze the branch is swaying, 



The clouds it's driving, the sky it's clearing. 



Out from under the brown autum cover. 



Where they grew embosomed under ice and snow, 



I see the tender grass-blades peeping. 



Short, and green, and yellow-tinged. 



And on the trees when the rain is beating, 



I see the moss on their cold bleak sides, 



A brighter, fresher, mellower green 



Than it was in winter, when the days were drear. 



And out in the garden, where the sun can reach, 



The jonquils are pushing the sod away: 



Vying with hyacinth, and crowd 'd narcissus'. 



To color their bed ere the May-flower springs. 



The birds that sang the year-round. 



Sing a cheery song, a clearer note. 



That blends with the air, the sprout, the tree, 



Into a soft and vibrant chord. 



And as I sit with window closed, 



And watch the tips of the pine trees turn, 



I feel spring-strains — with ear and eye — 



Rouse every fibre of my sentient soul. 



A calmer look o'er Earth's face is stealing, 



Her eye is clearer, her cheeks are rounding; 



She holds her robes with wondrous charm! 



That's how I know, that spring is coming. 



