The Blue Bird - A Spring Song

By Wm. W. Fosdick.

Gentle harbinger of Spring,

Bird of the heaven hue,

Bearing on thine airy wing,

Summer's softest blue;

Oh! welcome back thy ruddy breast

And music breathing mouth

Sweet herald ! of the breezy west,

And of the spicy South.

 

The bright-hued courier of the sun!

Old Winter hears thy strain,

And drawing up his snowy cloak,

Goes slowly down the plain;

And in his tracks, in robes of green,

The Spring comes, dancing gay,

And April draws the curtain screen

That hides the blushing May.

 

Oh! welcome back sweet Messenger!

Thou hast a guiding chart,

'Tis Memory's needle, made to stir,

The compass of thy heart!

Then ridest in the sunshine's car,

Born on the South wind's breath

Led by the icy, Polar Star,

And the evenings in the West.

 

Sweet Envoy of the gentle Spring!

Oh! bring me tidings, true,

That I shall see a blossoming

Upon life's tree anew.

But if thou cannot bring Love back,

I prithee Bird, depart!

For fairest skies will seem but black,

Without a Spring at heart.

June 3, 1858. Bellevue Gazette 2(28): 1. Initially April 10, 1858 in the Kanzas News 1(41): 4.