Page:May-day and other pieces, Emerson, 1867.djvu/37

Rh Counted on the spacious dial

Yon broidered zodiac girds.

I know the pretty almanac

Of the punctual coming-back,

On their due days, of the birds.

I marked them yestermorn,

A flock of finches darting

Beneath the crystal arch,

Piping, as they flew, a march,—

Belike the one they used in parting

Last year from yon oak or larch;

Dusky sparrows in a crowd,

Diving, darting northward free,

Suddenly betook them all,

Every one to his hole in the wall,

Or to his niche in the apple-tree.

I greet with joy the choral trains

Fresh from palms and Cuba's canes.

Best gems of Nature's cabinet,