| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| Home Thoughts from Abroad |
| | | Robert Browning (1812–89) |
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I OH, to be in England now that April ’s there | |
| And whoever wakes in England sees, some morning, unaware, | |
| That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf | |
| Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, | |
| While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough | 5 |
| In England—now! | |
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II And after April, when Mary follows | |
| And the white-throat builds, and all the swallows! | |
| Hark, where my blossom’d pear-tree in the hedge | |
| Leans to the field and scatters on the clover | 10 |
| Blossoms and dewdrops—at the bent spray’s edge— | |
| That ’s the wise thrush: he sings each song twice over | |
| Lest you should think he never could re-capture | |
| The first fine careless rapture! | |
| And, though the fields look rough with hoary dew, | 15 |
| All will be gay when noontide wakes anew | |
| The buttercups, the little children’s dower, | |
| Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower! | |
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