An April Madrigal

In those charmed ages, dark and rich

With mystery, when, sailing first,

The mariner on unknown seas

And summer shores bewildered burst

,— He planted there some royal sign,

And claimed the place by right divine:

So I, who came when April skies

Lighten the land and get me glee,

And flushed with sleep the fair earth turns

Her rosy side to welcome me,

Claim the glad month my fief and fere,

And take possession of the year.

I take possession of the year:

Yet as a viceroy I hold,

The bloom from off the sea I strip,

The freshness from the budding mould,

All fragrances, all balms that be,

My Sovereign, I hoard for thee!