At the Time of Clear Weather
In the agreeable public gardens of PoplarThe bushes are bright with buds,For this is the season of Clear Weather.There blossom the quiet flowers of this country:The timid lilac,The unassuming hawthorn,The dignified chestnut,And the girlish laburnum;And the mandarin of them all is the rhododendron.
In the untilled field of my heartMany simple buds are bursting.There is a little bush of kindliness towards all men.There is a slender tree of forgiveness for all wrongs.There is a humble growth of repentance for past sins.And around the field is a thick hedge of thankfulness.
And Ho! in the midst of allStands the tree of a hundred boughsLaden with the sweetest of all budsWhich are breaking to flower under the sun of a maiden’s eyes.