| Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891. | | | | April | | By Elizabeth Clementine (Dodge) (Stedman) Kinney (1810–1889) |
| | | CAPRICIOUS April, beautiful coquette! | |
| Thou wearest now a smile and now a frown, | |
| And now a pensive air, with lids cast down, | |
| And thy sad visage with fresh tear-drops wet: | |
| Then, all at once, thou sadness dost forget,— | 5 |
| Thy forehead circling with joy’s radiant crown, | |
| And laughing gayly, with a laugh thine own— | |
| Lovely in smiles, in tears more lovely yet. | |
| Thy favorites are not princes of the earth, | |
| Nor gay gallants; but sons of lowly birth— | 10 |
| For ploughman and for planter are thy wiles; | |
| Thy bird-toned voice calls rustics from the hearth | |
| To labor, while thy presence care beguiles, | |
| And quickens precious seed beneath thy tears and smiles. | | | | |
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