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APRIL.
149
Crushing with brutal cold the flowers
That fain would burst to bloom,
Dooming all vegetating things
Unto a common tomb,
Nipping with frosty breath the life
Of bud, and sprout, and leaf;
But little care we for his power,
Knowing his reign is brief.




APRIL.
A faint, soft breath from low-hung skies,
As if it swept o'er flowers;
A languid sweetness running through
The long day's dreamy hours;
The violet haze upon the hills
Drops on the leafless trees,
And in the west the setting moon
Is drowned in purple seas.

A sweet, green prescience clothes the fields;
And, in the bosky dells,
The violet and forget-me-not
Unclose their bright-hued cells;
The streams released from icy chains
White down the highlands flow,
And the great river's troubled breast
Is white with foamy snow.