Call to the bird on the bough: ‘What cheer?’

And he pipes for answer: ‘The spring is here.’

A month goes by with its sun and rain,

And a rosebud taps at my window pane;

I see in the garden down below

The tall white lilies a stately row;

The birds are pecking the cherries red:

‘Summer is sweet,’ the starlings said.

Again I look from my casement down;

The leaves are changing to red and brown;