88 ARBOR DAY 



II 



And after April, when May follows, 

 And the white throat builds, and all the swallows! 

 Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge 

 Leans to the field and scatters on the clover 

 Blossoms and dewdrops at the bent spray's 



edge 

 That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice 



over, 



Lest you should think he never could recapture 

 The first fine careless rapture! 

 And though the fields look rough with hoary dew, 

 All will be gay when noontide wakes anew 

 The buttercups, the little children's dower 

 Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower! 



THE WISTFUL DAYS* 



BY ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON 



WHAT is there wanting in the Spring? 



The air is soft as yesteryear; 



The happy-nested green is here, 

 And half the world is on the wing. 



The morning beckons, and like balm 



Are westward waters blue and calm. 

 Yet something's wanting in the Spring. 



* By permission of the Century Co., New York. 



