May

[ZaunköniG]

The broad earth smiles in open benison,
An emerald sea, whose waves of leaf and shade
On far-off shores of misty turquoise fade;
And all the host of life steers blithely on,
With joy for captain, fancy at the helm:
The woodpecker taps roundly at his tree,
The vaulting high-ho flings abroad his glee
In fluty laughter from the towering elm.
Here at my feet are violets, and below--
A gracile spirit tremulously alive--
Spring water fills a little greenish pool,
Paved all with mottled leaves and crystal cool.
Beyond it stands a plum-tree in full blow,
Creamy with bloom, and humming like a hive.