Arbutus came from out the moist earth peeping,
And then a violet and a Bethlehem star;
And when a daisy smiled which had been sleeping
Down in the pines, where sheltered corners are,
The fields were hidden in a soft green cover
And our whole world was Lady April's lover.

The lilacs burst and filled the air with incense
Then roses crowded in the way of June,
Beauties well guarded by their thorns and leaves dense,
Ruddy in daylight, pale 'neath harvest moon;

From pure white to deepest crimson ranging,
In loveliness from bud to blossom changing.

Then maples in the autumn! And the aster
I saw last year its petals ruby red,
Gold-hearted, aromatic; fast and faster
The year sped onward to the years that fled;
But gorgeous were the banners borne before him;
And clouds took purple vestments to adore him.

The last sad days were not so sad in passing,
The barns were full, and hiding here and there,
A late flower bloomed; and to the eastward massing
Against the wind, the cedar hedges were
Green all the year, and greener in the winter;
Them ocean gales could neither bend nor splinter.

These have their meaning; every month and season
Speaks to the Christian heart a tale of love;
We, knowing this, in each may find a reason
For tender thoughts for the dear Lord above;
Red roses say, “The Sacred Heart remember!”
“Eternal life!” cry hedges in December.

Poor is the man who sees but earthly flowers,
Hears only earthly voices in the trees,
And finds no symbols in the star-lit hours,
Though his great wealth be blazoned over seas;
Poor! if he in the cloud sees only vapor
And in the sun a larger useful taper.

Fair silver lines the cloud of sternest duty,
There is a glow on all our week-day deeds;
Through all the year there runs a string of beauty
Like the bright chain that holds the rosary beads.
Life is not hard seen through the Resurrection;
Nature, read rightly, helps us to perfection.