In Early May

O my dear, the world to-day

Is more lovely than a dream!

Magic hints from far away

Haunt the woodland, and the stream

Murmurs in his rocky bed

Things that never can be said.

Starry dogwood is in flower,

Gleaming through the mystic woods.

It is beauty's perfect hour

In the wild spring solitudes.

Now the orchards in full blow

Shed their petals white as snow.

All the air is honey-sweet

With the lilacs white and red,

Where the blossoming branches meet

In an arbor overhead.

And the laden cherry trees

Murmur with the hum of bees.

All the earth is fairy green,

And the sunlight filmy gold,

Full of ecstasies unseen,

Full of mysteries untold.

Who would not be out-of-door,

Now the spring is here once more!