Andrew Macphail, comp. The Book of Sorrow. 1916.
On one who died in MayClarence Chatham Cook (1828–1900)
W
This time o’ year?
Peach-blow and apple-blossom;
Clouds, white as my love’s bosom;
Warm wind o’ the west
Cradling the robin’s nest;
Young meadows hasting their green laps to fill
With golden dandelion and daffodil:
These are fit sights for spring;
But, oh, thou hateful thing,
What dost thou here?
This time o’ year?
Fair, at the old oak’s knee,
The young anemone;
Fair, the plash places set
With dog-tooth violet;
The first sloop-sail;
The shad-flower pale;
Sweet are all sights,
Sweet are all sounds of spring;
But thou, thou ugly thing,
What dost thou here?