When Spring Sets In

      

       

I long for the wild and rocky slopes where the “Crick” goes winding down,

Where the buds start out and the spears of grass come green between the brown;

Where the bluebird calls to his chirping mate and the building nests begin,

O I long, I say, for the balmy day when the early spring sets in.

For the nimble trout is hungry then and he bites in a cheerful way,

And the perch move in where the water’s shoal and warm by the bank to play;

And the bullfrogs down in the lowland marsh, with the tree toads, start a-din,

And the golden sap is there on tap when the early spring set in.

I long to be by the boiling stream where the freshet rushes down,

Where the big black logs, like men o’ war, come stealing on the town,

I would take my skiff and a coil of rope, and tow them to the shore,

And earn today a good day’s pay as I did in days of yore.

When the early spring sets in there comes a bustle on the farm,

And winter slinks beyond the hills in sadness and alarm;

And man and beast and bird and fish and insects all begin

To chant a lay to the happy day when early spring sets in.

                             March 9, 1902