New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-04-14
APRIL AND ITS OFFSPRING.

APRIL AND ITS OFFSPRING.
Shows, balmy sunshine, the raw air OF No
vember, April showers, sleet, and now again
steady and brisk Ow-stOrn,, lasting through
out day and night-thcse are tho charms
of variety upon which, after our late escape
from March, we have haplessly fallen.
"Can trouble" cries the poet least addicted
to gushing, "dwell with April days y The
poet probably had just gone through Win
ter like the last, and was going ont for the
first time without his overcoat OF cold in
his head. lie inhaled the ethereal mildness
for which the mouth has q reputation, saw
the alder catkns following on the black
boughs, and the willows, that all Winter had
been drawn in fine stiff lines Of sepis against
the cold sky. suddenly wave in the sunlight
delicate and airy walls Of green. He fancled
they were the garments of the invisible
Spring. abroad on her life-giying journey; in
his heated fancy the black, gummy buds on
the trees tbrobbcd with all the splendor Of
tho Summer; the occasional chatter Of the first
pioneer BIRDS sparrow, woodpecleer, and cat
bird, were the faint echo for him of Junes
full song of praise. How the poet Jared after
his April walk was over is not told, but We
and impotent conclusion in IN attack
of lunbagO or catal1h. We confess to Il settled
distl1lst of this kissing traitor Of a mouth, be
its kisses never 80 balmy and warm. 1T is
Islander on every blushing honest little girl to
portray April rs % maiden, arch, sweet-brcathed
and debonair. He is midde-agcd old hum
bug, the color in his cheeks is not skin-deep,
his hair is white with wintry SHOWS, his gayety
is cruel, his breath is malaria. Ii you trust
his fair promises sent through the fash of the
gOldcn-winged wOOdpecker in the air, or the
pink flush of the trailing arbutus under the
dead grass, or the blue eyes of the hepatica
opening behind damp logs among uncuIling
fem you will find These are but deceiying
fragments borrowed in advance from Summer
10 hide the lingering disease and discomfort Of
Winter Or if you choose to meet April in
town, yOu are forced to patrol streets gay with
pots of Easter lilies and windows of simmer
ing gauzes and tlower-sprinklcd muslins, armed
with your Ulster and umbrella, liable at
every turn to battle with hailstorm or drench-
ing rain. lie can be "tristed only As the fox.
"whO, meier so tame or cherished, will have
"wid trick of his ancestors"
We might tolerate the fellow during his
thirty days life, however, if he did not give
his character to so many people whose ill-luca
had dragged them into the world while he had
charge of it. An April day you can guard
against with fire, OvcrshOes, or flannel shirt:
but how will you defend yourself against III
April friend The man or woman born in
this treachcrOus month is not tickle with gilsty
but sincere fits Of affection and prejudice, rs We
might suppose They are the sweet sentiment
alists in religion, friendship, or love; the
friends who send you bushels Of flowers when
you arc i'll, but never sit up with you at
night; who delight in long and frequent let
ters of rapturOus or despairing efiusion, but
who would not stint themselves OF ten dollars
to save You from ruin; if you move out Of
town they will not remember You for day;
if you die they will write I'm obituary
notice or a copy of verses which would
bring tears from stone, and will
go to the auction of your effects
and brag for weeks of the bargains
they got there. The surface OF their charac-
ter to those who know them but little is a
delicious glow and harmony pink, tender
blossoms OF emotion, sweet cOOings, and songs
of praise, and showers of ready tears we
gods! what floods of tears! But their wye,
or washerwomen see the frost and mud below
they strike every hour upon the icy substra-
tum of selfshncss, the cruel, unicmpcrcd will.
There il Floyd's pretty vito across the way
a most devout little creature according TO pop
ular belief. She has the face of medieval
saint us she kneels in her pew and tho rose
light falls about her. The cchoing anthems
make her tremtlc and turn pale; picturesque
sermon or earnest prayer brings the sudden
tears down her chet1,s. But at home she il
greedy and miscrly, II cat rs to temper, n lazy
hOu6ekeeper, and selfish wife and mother
1t never has occurred to her that her fine
sentnaents or sentimental religion could be-
como rcai in her actions, or serve rs daily
bre;ul for her own soul or for those about
her.
There /, Norcott, too, whom we Watched ,hc