APRIL CONTRADICTIONS

By Evaleen Stein

I watch the little pear buds break

And slip their silky sheaths,

And flowers on the maples make

A thousand russet wreaths,

— Then something blinds my sight, and I

Am full of grief, yet know not why!

A rosy purple half betrays

The wealth the lilacs fold;

The torches of the tulips blaze

In flames of red and gold;

Peach boughs are blossoming above,

— But oh, the vague heartache thereof!

The blue sky wears in gentle wise

Its loveliness again;

All April sunshine,— yet mine eyes

Are brimmed with April rain!

The presage of sweet days to be,

So strange a sadness stirs in me!