"The Coming of the May" by Rev. T. L. Drury (1917)

The Coming of the May.

BY (REV.) T. L. DRURY.

How sweet is coming of the May,

        'T is beautiful to me;

All nature is at dawn of day

        So full of melody.

The orchards all around are white,

        And blooms the lilac tree;

And nature sings with pure delight

        Its summer's prophecy.

The fields are all so fresh and green

        Beneath the skies of blue,

And all the trees make bright the scene

        Now budding forth anew.

The living streams are rushing down

        The hills, then o'er the leas,

While warbling birds in country, town,

        Hold concerts in the trees.

The flowers upspringing to the light

        Shed glory all their own;

They make the heart of nature bright

        Where seeds of hope are sown.

The children, too, in merry glee,

        Oh! how they shout and play;

Their pleasures are so full and free

        With spirit of the May!

The only shadow I can see

        In coming of the May

Is gloom of war that saddens me,

        And drives the cheer away.

And yet the world is beautiful,

        And altruistic, too;

For it has voices that will rule

        Thro' love and right anew.

Hence sweet is coming of the May,

        With life abundant, free;

It drives the gloom of things away,

        And world is young with me.

Troy Times. May 11, 1917: 11 col 3.