Spring Sonnet / E.A. Woodward

Spring Sonnet

The drear and lonesome season now has gone
And winter's sadness will be turned to mirth;
The opening buds and smiling flowers each dawn,
Will greet with joy this gladder season's birth.
The earth awakened from the winter's dearth,
The robin chirps with glee o'er grassy lawn;
And wilder spots have felt the sunbeam's worth,
Which charm to gayer pranks the sportive fawn.
All nature smiles in springtime fashion dressed,
The fertile fields resound with plowman's song;
The noisy sparrow builds 'neath eaves her nest,
The woodland trembles with the warbling throng.
New life is born, new hope inspires the breast,
For spring has come and all the world is blest.

~~
E.A. Woodward
from Sonnets and Acrostics, 1916

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada and the United States]

E.A. Woodward biography

Henryk Uziemblo (1879–1949), Springtime Thaw, 1908 (detail). Wikimedia Commons.

Christmas Sonnet / E.A. Woodward

Christmas Sonnet

The star that marked the birthplace of our King
Shone bright above that Bethlehem manger bed,
And by its gleams wise shepherds' feet were led
To pay him homage, and their treasures bring.
Now, to this star the world's great nations cling,
Revere the power that raised him from the dead,
With wreathes of love still crown that sacred head,
And waft to heaven the song which angels sing.
This song of "Peace on earth, good will t'ward men,"
Has charmed the vistas of earth's noblest thought;
Still guides the hand that wields immortal pen,
And crowns him king, who man's redemption bought –
Whose tireless feet o'er hill and valley's glen,
From heaven to earth a priceless message brought.

~~
E.A. Woodward
from Sonnets and Acrostics, 1916

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada and the United States]

E.A. Woodward biography