Spring is Coming - An 1857 Nebraska Poem

Spring is coming! — Spring is coming

Don't you hear her in the rills,

Tripping gaily o'er the valley,

Flying o'er the sunny hills!

Nature leaps to meet her coming,

With her teeming, babbling throng;

Gladsome Spring, with joy we greet thee,

With a cheerful voice of song.

 

Spring is coming! — Spring is coming

She is in the Southern breeze;

Merrily the birds are singing

Martins in the forest trees;

Modest violets are springing

From the gladsome earth the while,

And the butter-cups and daisies

Greet her with a lovers smile.

 

Spring is coming! — Spring is coming

Tiny leaflets venture out;

Torrents that for months have slumbered,

Hasten seaward with a shout.

Wanton breezes kiss the flowers;

Butterflies are on the wing;

Birds have set the day to marry,

And invited guests to sing.

 

Spring is coming! — Spring is coming

Joyous beats the pulse of life;

Wary ones, almost desponding,

Start anew to meet the strife,

Nature's bosom throbs with pleasure;

Spring has set the captive free;

Earth, with all her teeming millions.

Chants the song of jubilee!

May 7, 1857. Bellevue Gazette 1(27): 1.