SPRING IS BEAUTIFUL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 20073, 9 October 1920, Page 6

SPRING IS BEAUTIFUL.

In all climates spring is beautiful, . . . The birds begin to sing; they utter a few rapturous notes, and then wait for an answer in the silent woods. Thosa given-coated musicians, the frogs, make holiday in tho neighbouring marshes. They, too, belong to the orchestra of nature, whose vast theatre is again opened, though tho doors have boon so long bolted with icicles, and tho scenery lump; with snow and frost like cobwebs. This is tho prelude which announces the rising of tho broad green curtain. Already ’ the gratis snoots forth. Tho waters leap with thrilling pulse through the veins of tho earth; the sap through the veins of the plants and trees. . . . What . . delight in springtime! What a joy in being and moving! Men are at' work in gardens; and in the air there is an odour of the fresh earth. Tho leafbuds begin to’ swell and blush. The white blossoms of the cherry hang upon the boughs like snow-flakes; and ©re long our next-door neighbours will he completely hidden from us by the dense green folia®,. Children are let loose m the fields and gardens. They bold buttercups under each other’s chins to see if they love butter. And the little girls adorn themselves with chains and curls of dandelions. ... d

.&f d »t 'night .so cloudless and so still! Apt a voice of living thing—not a whisper of leaf or waving bough -not a breath of wind—not a sound upon the earth nor in the air! And overhead bends the blue sky, dewy and soft, and radiant with 'innumerable stars, like the inverted bell of some lower, sprinkled with golden dust, and breathing fragrance.— Henry \y. Longfellow* “