Written in March / William Wordsworth

Written in March 

(while resting on the bridge at the foot of Brother's Water)

  The cock is crowing,
  The stream is flowing,
  The small birds twitter,
  The lake doth glitter,
The green field sleeps in the sun;
  The oldest and youngest
  Are at work with the strongest;
  The cattle are grazing,
  Their heads never raising;
There are forty feeding like one!

  Like an army defeated
  The snow hath retreated,
  And now doth fare ill
  On the top of the bare hill;
The ploughboy is whooping — anon — anon
  There’s joy on the mountains;
  There’s life in the fountains;
  Small clouds are sailing,
  Blue sky prevailing;
The rain is over and gone!

~~
William Wordsworth (1770-1850), 1819
from Complete Poetical Works, 1888

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

William Wordsworth biography