April

 

LADY APRIL by Richard Le Galliene

So, April, here thou art again,

      Thou pretty, pretty lady!

With broidered skirts of sunkissed rain --

      A grown-up girl, already!

Thy sister May

Is on her way,

     And June, with tresses shady;

But, of the three,

I love best thee --

     Thou pretty, pretty lady!

 

Thou hauntest all the sobering year,

     With echos of thy laughter;

And life is nought till though appear,

     And but remembrance after.

Though Autumn's yield

From garth and field

     Run o'er from floor to rafter,

Thy wild-rose breast

Haunts all the rest,

     And makes it poor with laughter.

 

                         

This is one of the very few poems that I memorized when I was a child and that I can still remember.  It wasn't something I was assigned to memorize; I simply found it in a book once, loved it, and committed it to memory. 

April was always my favorite month, I suppose because it is my birth month and also the first full month of Spring, my favorite season.  I love most of LaGalliene's poetry, but this one was always special to me.  My ten-year-old self was charmed by the flow and cadence of the simple, pretty words.

Tags: Richard LeGalliene, Lady April, Poetry