| |
I
WHEN tulips bloom in Union Square, | |
| And timid breaths of vernal air | |
| Go wandering down the dusty town, | |
| Like children lost in Vanity Fair; | |
| |
| When every long, unlovely row | 5 |
| Of westward houses stands aglow, | |
| And leads the eyes towards sunset skies | |
| Beyond the hills where green trees grow,— | |
| |
| Then weary seems the street parade, | |
| And weary books, and weary trade: | 10 |
| I ’m only wishing to go a-fishing; | |
| For this the month of May was made. | |
| |
II
I guess the pussy-willows now | |
| Are creeping out on every bough | |
| Along the brook; and robins look | 15 |
| For early worms behind the plough. | |
| |
| The thistle-birds have changed their dun | |
| For yellow coats, to match the sun; | |
| And in the same array of flame | |
| The dandelion show’s begun. | 20 |
| |
| The flocks of young anemones | |
| Are dancing round the budding trees: | |
| Who can help wishing to go a-fishing | |
| In days as full of joy as these? | |
| |
III
I think the meadow-lark’s clear sound | 25 |
| Leaks upward slowly from the ground, | |
| While on the wing the blue-birds ring | |
| Their wedding-bells to woods around. | |
| |
| The flirting chewink calls his dear | |
| Behind the bush; and very near, | 30 |
| Where water flows, where green grass grows, | |
| Song-sparrows gently sing, “Good cheer.” | |
| |
| And, best of all, through twilight’s calm | |
| The hermit-thrush repeats his psalm. | |
| How much I ’m wishing to go a-fishing | 35 |
| In days so sweet with music’s balm! | |
| |
IV
’T is not a proud desire of mine; | |
| I ask for nothing superfine; | |
| No heavy weight, no salmon great, | |
| To break the record—or my line: | 40 |
| |
| Only an idle little stream, | |
| Whose amber waters softly gleam, | |
| Where I may wade, through woodland shade, | |
| And cast the fly, and loaf, and dream: | |
| |
| Only a trout or two, to dart | 45 |
| From foaming pools, and try my art: | |
| No more I ’m wishing—old-fashioned fishing, | |
| And just a day on Nature’s heart. | |
| |
