108 BIEDS AND POETS 



" Where now the sea-mew pipes, or dives 

 In yonder greening gleam, and fly 

 The happy birds, that change their sky 

 To build and brood; that live their lives 



" From land to land; and in my breast 

 Spring wakens too ; and my regret 

 Becomes an April violet, 

 And buds and blossoms like the rest." 



In the same poem the poet asks : — 



" Can trouble live with April days ? " 

 Yet they are not all jubilant chords that this season 

 awakens. Occasionally there is an undertone of 

 vague longing and sadness, akin to that which one 

 experiences in autumn. Hope for a moment as- 

 sumes the attitude of memory and stands with re- 

 verted look. The haze, that in spring as well as 

 in fall sometimes descends and envelops all things, 

 has in it in some way the sentiment of music, of 

 melody, and awakens pensive thoughts. Elizabeth 

 Akers, in her "April," has recognized and fully 

 expressed this feeling. I give the first and last 

 stanzas : — 



"The strange, sweet days are here again, 

 The happy-mournful days ; 

 The songs which trembled on our lips 

 Are half complaint, half praise. 



" Swing, robin, on the budded sprays. 

 And sing 3'our blithest tune ; — 

 Help us across these homesick days 

 Into the joy of June! " 



This poet has also given a touch of spring in 

 her "March," which, however, should be written 

 " April " in the New England climate : — 



