LAYS OF THE SEASONS. 



IiY MARY HOWITT. 



I. 



SPRING. 



The Spring — she is a blessed thing ! 



She is the mother of the flowers ; 

 She is the mate of birds and bees, 

 The partner of their revelries. 



Our star of hope through wintry hours. 



The merry children when they see 



Her coming, by the budding thorn, 

 They leap upon the cottage floor, 

 They shout beside the cottage door, 

 And run to meet her night and morn. 



They are soonest with her in the woods, 

 Peeping, the withered leaves among, 

 To find the earliest, fragrant thing 

 That dar?s from the cold earth to spring, 

 Or catch the earliest wild-bird's son 1 /. 



