Sonnet, written May 11th, 1884.

Sonnet, written May 11th, 1884.

In their full blush are now the flowers of Spring:
How the sweet Jacinth, with its watchet hue,
Vies with its neighbour Speedwell’s eyes of blue!
These, with the Primrose and the Cowslip, fling
Beauty o’er all the scene. Rose Campions bring 5
Their well-named blooms; Stichwort, and Cuckoo flowers,
And bright Marsh Marigolds, with these are ours
Daisies and Buttercups; while above us sing
The joyous Larks, making the welkin ring
With their choice melody. In yonder bush, 10
Just as in Walton’s day,* loud sings the Thrush;
The Cuckoo too brings her gay welcoming;
Whilst Broom, and Gorse, and Dandelion, as of old,
Gild all the landscape with their floral gold.

George Markham Tweddell
* “How do the Blackbird and Throssel, with their
melodious voices, bid welcome to the cheerful Spring, and
in their fixed months warble forth such ditties as no art or
instrument can reach to.”—The Complete Angler, written
in 1653. The Song Thrush is still called the Throssel in
Yorkshire.
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, pp. 11-12.] “The foregoing Sonnet
appeared in the Leeds Mercury Weekly Supplement, May 17, 1884.
The Masonic Review, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, May, 1885”.