Classic Poem

OH , sing and rejoice!
Give to gladness a voice —
Shout a welcome to beautiful May!
Rejoice with the flowers,
And the birds 'mong the bowers,
And away to the green woods, away!
As blithe as the fawn,
Let us dance in the dawn
Of this life-giving, glorious day;
'Tis bright as the first
Over Eden that burst —
Then welcome, young joy-giving May!

The cataract's horn
Has awaken'd the morn —
Her tresses are dripping with dew;
Oh, hush thee, and hark!
'Tis her herald, the lark,
That's singing afar in the blue.
Its happy heart's rushing
In strains, wildly gushing,
That reach to the revelling earth,
And sink through the deeps
Of the soul, till it leaps
Into raptures far deeper than mirth.

All Nature's in keeping!
The live streams are leaping
And laughing in gladness along;
The great hills are heaving,
The dark clouds are leaving,
The valleys have burst into song.
We'll range through the dells
Of the bonnie bluebells,
And sing with the streams on their way;
We'll lie in the shades
Of the flow'r-cover'd glades,
And hear what the primroses say.

So, crown me with flowers
'Neath the green, spreading bowers,
With the gems and the jewels May brings;
In the light of her eyes
And the depth of her dyes
We'll smile at the purple of kings.
We'll throw off our years,
With their sorrows and tears,
And time will not number the hours
We'll spend in the woods,
Where no sorrow intrudes,
With the streams and the birds and the flowers.