Welcome, O truant stork! <br />And where have you been so long? <br />And do you bring that grace of spring <br />That filleth my heart with song? <br /> <br />Descend upon my roof-- <br />Bide on this ash content; <br />I would have you know what cruel woe <br />Befell me when you went. <br /> <br />All up in the moody sky <br />(A shifting threat o'er head!) <br />They were breaking the snow and bidding it go <br />Cover the beautiful dead. <br /> <br />Came snow on garden spot, <br />Came snow on mere and wold, <br />Came the withering breath of white robed death, <br />And the once warm earth was cold. <br /> <br />Stork, the tender rose tree, <br />That bloometh when you are here, <br />Trembled and sighed like a waiting bride-- <br />Then drooped on a virgin bier. <br /> <br />But the brook that hath seen you come <br />Leaps forth with a hearty shout, <br />And the crocus peeps from the bed where it sleeps <br />To know what the noise is about. <br /> <br />Welcome, O honest friend! <br />And bide on my roof content; <br />For my heart would sing of the grace of spring, <br />When the winter of woe is spent.<br /><br />Eugene Field<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/armenian-folk-song-the-stork/
