| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1092. The Shamrock |
| | | By Maurice Francis Egan |
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| WHEN April rains make flowers bloom | |
| And Johnny-jump-ups come to light, | |
| And clouds of color and perfume | |
| Float from the orchards pink and white, | |
| I see my shamrock in the rain, | 5 |
| An emerald spray with raindrops set, | |
| Like jewels on Spring’s coronet, | |
| So fair, and yet it breathes of pain. | |
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| The shamrock on an older shore | |
| Sprang from a rich and sacred soil | 10 |
| Where saint and hero lived of yore, | |
| And where their sons in sorrow toil; | |
| And here, transplanted, it to me | |
| Seems weeping for the soil it left: | |
| The diamonds that all others see | 15 |
| Are tears drawn from its heart bereft. | |
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| When April rain makes flowers grow, | |
| And sparkles on their tiny buds | |
| That in June nights will over-blow | |
| And fill the world with scented floods, | 20 |
| The lonely shamrock in our land— | |
| So fine among the clover leaves— | |
| For the old springtimes often grieves,— | |
| I feel its tears upon my hand. | |
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