Poem by Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Marjorie’s Almanac

Robins in the tree-top,
 Blossoms in the grass,
Green things a-growing
 Everywhere you pass;
Sudden little breezes,
 Showers of silver dew,
Black bough and bent twig
 Budding out anew;
Pine-tree and willow-tree,
 Fringed elm and larch,—
Don’t you think that May-time’s
 Pleasanter than March?

Apples in the orchard
 Mellowing one by one;
Strawberries upturning
 Soft cheeks to the sun;

Roses faint with sweetness,
 Lilies fair of face,
Drowsy scents and murmurs
 Haunting every place;
Lengths of golden sunshine,
 Moonlight bright as day,—
Don’t you think that summer’s
 Pleasanter than May?

Roger in the corn-patch
 Whistling negro songs;
Pussy by the hearth-side
 Romping with the tongs;
Chestnuts in the ashes
 Bursting through the rind;
Red leaf and gold leaf
 Rustling down the wind;
Mother “doin’ peaches”
 All the afternoon,—
Don’t you think that autumn’s
 Pleasanter than June?

Little fairy snow-flakes
 Dancing in the flue;
Old Mr. Santa Claus,
 What is keeping you?
Twilight and firelight
 Shadows come and go;

Merry chime of sleigh-bells
 Tinkling through the snow;
Mother knitting stockings
 (Pussy’s got the ball),—
Don’t you think that winter’s
 Pleasanter than all?

1. Sestet
2. On Reading William Watson's Sonnet Entitled The Purple East
3. Kriss Kringle
4. No Songs in Winter
5. Hesperides

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