``Awake, awake, for the Springtime's sake, <br />March daffodils too long dreaming; <br />The lark is high in the spacious sky <br />And the celandine's stars are gleaming. <br />The gorse is ablaze, and the woodland sprays <br />Are as purple as August heather, <br />The buds unfurl, and mavis and merle <br />Are singing duets together. <br /> <br />``The rivulets run, first one by one, <br />Then meet in the swirling river, <br />And on out-peeping roots the sun-god shoots <br />The shafts of his golden quiver. <br />In the hazel copse the thrush never stops <br />Till with music the world seems ringing, <br />And the milkmaid hale, as she carries her pail, <br />Goes home to the dairy, singing: <br /> <br />``And the swain and his sweet in the love-lanes meet, <br />And welcome and face each other, <br />Till he folds her charms in his world-wide arms, <br />With kisses that blind and smother.'' <br />Then the daffodils came, aflame, aflame, <br />In orchard, and garth, and cover, <br />And out April leapt, first smiled, then wept, <br />And longed for her May-day lover.<br /><br />Alfred Austin<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/awake-awake/
