April
The birds that sing in the leafy Spring,
With the light of love on each glancing wing,
Have lessons to last you the whole year through;
For what is “Coo! coo! te weet tu whu!”
But, properly rendered, “The wit to woo!”
A wit that brings worship and wisdom too!
Coo! coo! te weet tu whu—
The wit to woo—te weet tu whu!
The verb “to love,” in the tongue of the dove,
Heard noon and night in the cedar grove,
Is very soon taught where the heart is true:
For the wit to woo, and the wisdom too,
Lie in the one sweet syllable, “Coo!”
But echo me well, and you learn to woo—
Coo! coo! te weet tu whu—
The wit to woo—te weet tu whu!
William Gilmore Simms
April First
Hidden no longer
In moss-covered ledges,
Starring the wayside,
Under the hedges,
Violet, Pimpernel,
Flashing with dew,
Daisy and Asphodel
Blossom anew.
Down in the bosky dells
Everywhere,
Faintly their fairy bells
Chime in the air.
Thanks to the sunshine!
Thanks to the showers!
They come again, bloom again,
Beautiful flowers!
Theophilus Hunter Hill
(Author of the first book published under copyright of the Confederate Government)
Battle of Five Forks, Virginia, 1865