To Fredericton in May-Time
This morning, full of breezes and perfume,
Brimful of promise of midsummer weather,
When bees and birds and I are glad together,
Breathes of the full-leaved season, when soft gloom
Chequers thy streets, and thy close elms assume
Round roof and spire the semblance of green billows;
Yet now thy glory is the yellow willows,
The yellow willows, full of bees and bloom.
Under their dusty blossoms blackbirds meet,
And robins pipe amid the cedars nigher;
Thro’ the still elms I hear the ferry’s beat;
The swallows chirp about the towering spire;
The whole air pulses with its weight of sweet;
Yet not quite satisfied is my desire!
---
Charles G.D. Roberts, 1881
from In Divers Tones, 1886
[Poem is in the public domain in Canada, the United States, and the European Union]
Charles G.D. Roberts (by George J. Dance)
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