ig6 
NATURE NOTES. 
“ My heart is happy as the bird 
That makes the copses ring ; 
It sings, although no voice is heard, 
Because it feels the spring. 
“ Hope pulses through the restless blood, 
New life is in the air, 
Xow stirs the sap within the bud, 
And all the world is fair. 
“ O blessed spring 1 When leaves unfold, 
When hills and daisied sod. 
Shine like the sacred bush of old. 
And burn with fires of God, 
“ And sorrows go, and griefs depart. 
Because the world is gay. 
And troubles fall from off the heart 
That feels the coming May.” 
It is perhaps hardly right to include in this notice Dr. Alexander H. Japp’s 
Circle of the Year — a volume “ printed simply with the view of giving pleasure to 
friends,” of which “no quotation or public notice whatever is desired.”' But 
many of the sonnets and other poems have appeared in periodicals, and it may be 
hoped that before very long Dr. Japp will see the wisdom of making this volume 
more readily accessible. We would, however, rather see a selection than the 
whole made public, for some of the verses are distinctly less meritorious than 
others, and some commemorate folk of whom the world knows little. But among 
the sonnets especially are many fine and beautiful things, such as the series on 
“ Great Poets,” from which we may cite the following on Tennyson : — 
“ The soft, enchanting light that, wavering, lays 
A charm in English garden in the noon, 
When all is still, and but the goldcrest’s tune 
Is heard in softer bursts about the ways : 
And all is wrapped in sweet and dreamy haze 
Born of the warmth, that is a welcome boon — 
IMore welcome when the birds shall waken soon 
And shake the censers of the limes and bays. 
While round shall rise the sound of work and stir — 
The voice of busy men in field and grove. 
All mellowed by the distance ; and the bells 
Send out their chime that ever softly tells 
How life beats out for each ; and sweet is love— 
Sweet as the coo of dove in yonder fir.” 
This sonnet, we gather, has not hitherto appeared in print. Here is a season- 
able one which has already been published : — 
“An October Morning. 
“ Black rooks are scolding on the elm-tops green 
That gently sway, though scarce a wind doth stir, 
A blackbird sends his note from yonder fir, 
And robins’ breasts match well the haws they glean. 
A wood-dove passes near me, with a sheen 
Of silvery radiance, and a sudden whirr 
Of rapid wings ; the gauzy gossamer 
On dewy bush shines fair. Above, serene 
Clear depths of azure sky ; and far withdrawn 
Grey shreds of cloud that linger on the verge 
Of dim horizon, telling still of dawn. 
Edged with a snowy whiteness like the surge 
Of summer seas. The air is crisp with frost. 
And larks and linnets pipe for summer lost.” 
