APRIL 

 27 



Dear common flower, that grow'st beside the way, 

 Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold, 



First pledge of blithesome May, 

 Which children pluck, and, full of pride uphold, 



High-hearted buccaneers, o'erjoyed that they 

 An Eldorado in the grass have found, 



Which not the rich earth's ample round 

 May match in wealth, thou art more dear to me 

 Than all the prouder summer-blooms may be. 



LOWELL: To the Dandelion. 



28 



There is a brief period in our spring when I like 

 more than at any other time to drive along the 

 country roads, or even to be shot along by steam 

 and have the landscape presented to me like a map. 

 It is at that period, usually late in April, when we 

 behold the first quickening of the earth. The 

 waters have subsided, the roads have become dry, 

 the sunshine has grown strong and its warmth has 

 penetrated the sod ; there is a stir of preparation 

 about the farm and all through the country. One 

 does not care to see things very closely ; his inter- 

 est in nature is not special but general. The earth 

 is coming to life again. 



BURROUGHS: Signs and Seasons. 



