Birds in Spring

Listen! What a sudden rustle Fills the air! All the birds are in a bustle Everywhere. Such a ceaseless croon and twitter Overhead! Such a flash of wings that glitter Wide outspread! Far away I hear a drumming,— Tap, tap, tap! Can the woodpecker be coming After sap? Butterflies are hovering over (Swarms on swarms) Yonder meadow-patch of clover, Like snow-storms. Through the vibrant air a-tingle Buzzingly, Throbs and o'er me sails a single Bumble-bee. Lissom swayings make the willows One bright sheen, Which the breeze puffs out in billows Foamy green. From the marshy brook that's smoking In the fog I can catch the crool and croaking Of a frog. Dogwood stars the slopes are studding, And I see Blooms upon the purple-budding Judas-tree. Aspen tassels thick are dropping All about, And the alder-leaves are cropping Broader out; Mouse-ear tufts the hawthorn sprinkle, Edged with rose; The park bed of periwinkle Fresher grows. Up and down are midges dancing On the grass: How their gauzy wings are glancing As they pass! What does all this haste and hurry Mean, I pray— All this out-door flush and flurry Seen to-day? This presaging stir and humming, Thrill and call? Mean? It means that spring is coming; That is all!