Cardinal Calling to Spring

Cardinal, cardinal Calling to spring, High from the tip of an elm Where you cling — Red is your head, and your wings, And your crest; Red like a rose Is the red of your breast; Thou art aglow Like a coal in a fire, Burning with heat Of an inward desire.

What dost thou see From the limb where you swing Waiting to waken A somnolent spring? Canst thou look into The heart of a tree? See its cold sap Stir to new activity? Watch the first pulse Which may throb in a bud? Vision the coming Of nature's green flood?

Cardinal, confident, Cheerful and bold, Thou fearest not March's bluster and cold. Warm is thy heart With the secret you bear, Icicles glitter, 'Tis little you care! Soon you will whistle Above your own nest Doing the singing You love to do best.

Cardinal, cardinal, Calling to spring,

I would fain join you Could I but sing. Soon dainty blossoms Will broadcast their scent, Bees will be humming, Rains make descent, Spring will have spread Her soft curtains of green, Glories of earth Will emblazon the scene.

Cardinal, cardinal, Calling to spring, In every clime Let thy clarion ring. After the winter Of chill and disease Cometh, unfailing, Green leaf, gentle breeze. This is the joy Of thy secret revealed, Cardinal, calling For winter to yield.