THE poor earth was so winter-marred, <br />Harried by storm so long, <br />It seemed no spring could mend her, <br />No tardy sunshine render <br />Atonement for such wrong. <br />Snow after snow, and gale and hail, <br />Gaunt trees encased in icy mail, <br />The glittering drifts so hard <br />They took no trace <br />Of scared, wild feet, <br />No print of fox and hare <br />Driven by dearth <br />To forage for their meat <br />Even in dooryard bare <br />And frosty lawn <br />Under the peril of the human race; <br />And then one primrose dawn, <br />Sweet, sweet, O sweet, <br />And tender, tender, <br />The bluebirds woke the happy earth <br />With song.<br /><br />Katharine Lee Bates<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-first-bluebirds/
