Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1923-03-21
A PRELUDE TO SPRING.

/ C''''N'
hills,
Soon to be clad in their robes of
green,
| II valleys and meadows the hills be-
! tween.
Tnere's a stir of sap in TIE maple tree,
4 warmer gleam in the sunsets
glow
| The brook from its crystal roof signs
| to be free,
And Joyous springtime again to
know.
From out the old apple tree leaning
low,
Comes the flash of bluejay's wing,
| And under it's heecy, white mantle of
| snow
| Thrills natures warm heart to the
glad call of spring
Mary NJ. Burrill.
| March /, 1928.
Dear Aunts, Uncles and Cousins of the
| NJ b. c.:
| When The American arrived yester-
| day and l saw that Aunt Madge was
| again left to do all our work, re-
solved that l would at least begin a
| letter before / went to bed, and when
evening came. proceeded to carry out
| my good intention. Being the first day
| of March and the first really SPRING
! like day in this region, it seemed that
something in the way of spring poetry
would be a good beginning. But one
can hardly sing of zephyrs, violets and
| leafy dells while the earth is still hid
| den under four feet or more of snow,
| so / began to cast about for something
| prelusory of spring, so to speak. l
searched various sources in vain, then
| thought of my scrap book. Surely
| there would be yards of spring verse
| there. Mary" one came to light. Dis
| couraged, and the evening far spent, I
| said I'll have to write one myself.
If any of you feel to criticise the re-
| suit, just take pen and paper and in
| the last half hour or so before bed
| time at the close of a busy day write
| a better one for us. There's much
room for improvement.
Anyway, the incident made me think,
| as / often do, how much we owe to
| those whose talents enable them to
write beautiful thoughts and pen pic
| lures to enrich our humber minds.
| How many remember Bryants plant
| ing of the Apple Tree" and the pic
! lures brought to mind by almost every
| line? III quote two stanzas:
What plant we in this apple tree?
| Fruits that shall swell in sunny June,
| And ripen in the August noon,
And drop when gentle airs come by,
| That fan the blue Septembers sky;
While children come with cries of glee,
| And seek them where the fragrant
grass
| Betrays their bed to those who pass,
| At the foot of the apple tree.
! And when above this apple tree,
! The winter stars are glittering bright,
| And winds so bowling through the
| Girls, whose young eyes o'erflow with
mirth,
| Shall peel it's fruit by cottage hearth
| And guests in prouder homes shall see,
| Heaped with the grapes of Cintra's
vine,
| And golden orange of the line,
| The fruit of the apple tree.
| l am glad Aunt Madge told us we
| might use quotations we liked when
| writing. for it is habit of mine you
| see.
| In spite of ALI the storms and deep
| SHOWS which have kept us closely at
| home, we have had a cosy, pleasant
| winter, except for Els serious acct
| dent, which might have been 50 much
| worse that we found cause for thank
| fulness even in that Besides the
| newspapers, we have many magazines
and exchange books with our neigh
bors and borrow from the travelling
| library.
| have done considerable sewing, and
| hope to get more done before it is time
| for the cleaning, which spring, more
| than any other time, seems to demand
! am looking o-er seed cata.oSs and
| wishing could hare every variety OF
| lowers ever known, and can hardly
wait for the frost to go so | can see
whether this and that perennial has
| wintered and is coming up.
had a long letter from Aunt Maria
this week. If she would write a SINH
|
would be enjoyed, She says: 1--WE
have been somewhat under the
weather. slight colds but very
sneezy watery eyes, sore throat, four
teen handkerchiefs day, a big lazi-
ness all over hut now well on the
mend and nothing matters when the
sun Shines" Doesn't that sound like
| her?
Somebody stop me, do! I'll send {
recipe or two and close, hoping to see
letters from all the clan right away.
Esther"
Your CHEEKY letter. Esther, came
to me in, perhaps, the worst blizzard
of the winter, and you are to be con
graduated on having a vision
which would enable you to write al
original poem like "a Prelude tt
Spring" which is fine. What nigh
| Won mot pposapt n We whom uot1Irn /,