Sunshine streaming gaily,
Skies of deeper blue,
Crimson-budded woodlands,
Fields of greener hue,
Tell the winter-weary
Spring returns anew.
All is now forgotten,
As the wild-birds sing,
Of the biting north blast —
Winter's numbing sting —
And of weary longing
For the jocund spring.
For the vernal sweetness
Screens the darksome past;
Light falls where the shadows
Erst were grim and fast:
In the lifeful present
All is joy at last.
Shouts and youthful laughter
Rise from out the dells
Where the runlets babble,
Where the primrose dwells,
Where the cups and daisies
Leave their winter cells.
Over hill and valley,
Through the meadows gay,
By the brimming rivers
Countless roamers stray,
Glad and sunny-hearted
As the sun-bright day.
Age and youth a-level,
Sage and wayward boy,
Feel the sweet heart-throbbing,
All the life and joy
Of bright April's bringing —
Gifts that never cloy.
Sunlight streaming gaily,
Rain in sunny showers,
Balmy west winds blowing,
Groups of infant flowers,
Hearts with pleasure beating
Fill the merry hours.